In the wake of director Gore Verbinski leaving Gambit, forcing a new release date, Fox has had to do some scrambling in regards to their other superhero films. With Gambit now being pushed back to occupy a June 7, 2019 release, the good news is that the untitled Deadpool sequel has been moved forward, and instead of a Friday, June 1 release date, it will now hit cinemas on Friday, May 18.
It’s a good sign for a sequel that came together rather quickly, and will now debut a week ahead of Solo: A Star Wars Story, which is a smart move considering the box office juggernaut that is expected to be. Up against Deadpool 2 will be Sony’s horror film, Slender Man.
Now the bad news. Everyone excited about that recent horror-centric trailer for The New Mutants is going to be bitterly disappointed, as the film has been pushed back a whopping ten months from a Friday, April 13 release date this year, and will now instead arrive on February 22, 2019.
The X-Men spinoff about a group of teenage mutants kept against their will in a research facility was looking to be the next subversive superhero film from Fox in the wake of Deadpool and Logan. The shift in dates prevents Fox from having two superhero films out at the same time competing against each other in the overseas market.
However, such a big date change likely points to a larger issue, and it might be something to do with the Disney/Fox merger that is threatening to change the outlook of a lot of upcoming films from Fox, or perhaps the film itself needs more work. The Tracking Board reported that the film tested ok, but the studio wanted to make it scarier after 2017 proved to be a landmark year for horror.
X-Men: Dark Phoenix is still slated to hit cinemas Friday, November 2, the one constant in Fox’s extended X-Men universe. So while it’s good news for Deadpool fans, New Mutant fans will have to squint to see the light at the end of the tunnel that this delay might make the film even better.
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