The New Mutants (film)

Danielle "Dani" Moonstar, a young Cheyenne Native American, is hidden in a tree by her father as her entire reservation is devastated by a tornado, leaving her the only survivor. After falling unconscious, Dani awakens in an oddly empty hospital run by Dr. Cecilia Reyes, who comforts Dani, explaining that she is not an ordinary human being but, rather, has unique mutant DNA, and she advises her to remain in the hospital until she learns the effects and how to control them. Dani is introduced to four other teenagers: Samuel "Sam" Guthrie, Illyana Rasputin, Roberto "Bobby" da Costa and Rahne Sinclair. Like Dani, the others possess superhuman abilities due to the mutations in their DNA. Reyes, a mutant herself who can manipulate plasma-energy barriers, has brought each of them to the hospital, after they have each either experienced, or accidentally caused, a horrible tragedy: Sam can generate energy around his body to fly at jet speed and render himself temporarily nigh-invulnerable. After his powers manifested, he accidentally collapsed an entire coal mine, killing his father and coworkers in the process. Roberto, who can emit and manipulate furnace-like heat, accidentally burned his girlfriend to death while they were swimming in an indoor pool. Rahne can transform into a wolf or wolf-human hybrid with enhanced senses. She escaped her devoutly Catholic village by killing the priest who branded her as a witch. Illyana has interdimensional sorcery powers and survived sexual abuse when she was enslaved as a child. During her first day, where Illyana implies there is nothing stopping her, Dani attempts to escape, but is stopped by a force field created by Reyes surrounding the entire hospital grounds. Further frustrated from Illyana's harshness and still grieving the loss of her family, Dani plans to commit suicide from the church clock-tower, but is prevented by Rahne. The two become friends and then begin to form a lesbian relationship, but Illyana antagonizes Dani, who discovers that Illyana has a hand puppet of a purple dragon called Lockheed. Collectively, the five teenagers believe they are being trained to join the X-Men, hence the strict supervision. Reyes warns them that they are considered dangerous and should not leave until they have mastered their abilities. Soon, the group all begin to have horrifyingly real visions of their past tragedies, one of which results in Rahne getting branded in the shower by the same Priest whom she had previously killed. During this, Dani undergoes a neural test, inadvertently discovering Reyes's true intentions. Both Illyana and Reyes deduce that the visions are the result of Dani's powers manifesting themselves: the ability physically manifest the greatest fears and darkest secrets from a person's mind into reality as tangible illusions. Reyes consults her employers, the Essex Corporation, who instruct her to collect Dani's DNA and then terminate her. As Reyes straps her to a gurney, Dani's panic causes her powers to go haywire. Illyana and Sam are attacked by physical manifestations of Illyana's childhood abusers – monstrous humanoid creatures called the "Smiling Men" – while Roberto, who was attacked by one of the Smiling Men, tries in vain to break through the hospital's outer barrier, which has now contracted in diameter. Rahne, who was suspicious of Reyes's next "procedure", arrives in half-wolf form and mauls Reyes, forcing her to flee. The five regroup in Reyes's office and realize that Reyes was training them to be assassins for Essex and that, to escape, they must kill Reyes to deprive the barriers of their power source. They find and confront Reyes, who warns them that Dani is too powerful and will destroy them all due to the lack of control over her power. Reyes restricts them all with barriers and tries to kill Dani again by asphyxiating her inside a barrier, which unleashes the Demon Bear – Dani's own fears manifested through her power, and the true cause of her reservation's destruction – on her. Reyes is devoured and Dani is rendered unconscious. Rahne tries to reach through to Dani's subconscious and urges her to wake up, while Illyana uses her powers to travel to her "special place", an alternate dimension, where she retrieves a glowing sword, armor and a tiny, physical manifestation of Lockheed to battle the Demon Bear. Eventually, Sam and Roberto join the fight, as well as Rahne, all to no avail. Dani is visited by her father's spirit, who encourages her to face her fear; she awakens and confronts the bear, calming and thus dissipating it. As day breaks, the group leaves the now unshielded facility to find the nearest town. == Cast ==

• Blu Hunt as Danielle "Dani" Moonstar / Mirage:A Native American mutant who can create illusions based on the fears and desires of other people. The film includes a love story between Rahne and Dani, which Williams felt was a natural extension of the comic book characters having a telepathic connection. Boone described this as "the spine and focus" of the film's "character-driven stuff". • Anya Taylor-Joy as Illyana Nikolaievna Rasputina / Magik:A Russian mutant with sorcery powers, she can manifest the Soulsword and use teleportation discs to travel. Illyana is the enigmatic sister of Colossus, a member of the X-Men seen in previous films in the series. She has a purple dragon companion from another dimension, named Lockheed. Colbi Gannett portrays Illyana as a child. • Charlie Heaton as Samuel Zachary "Sam" Guthrie / Cannonball: An American mutant from the state of Kentucky who can propel himself into the air, and is invulnerable while doing so. • Alice Braga as Dr. Cecilia Reyes: A strict mentor to the group and a medical doctor who can generate protective fields. • Maisie Williams as Rahne Grace Sinclair / Wolfsbane:A Scottish mutant who can turn into a wolf and is struggling to reconcile this with her religious beliefs. Williams was persuaded to join the film after discussing the character's religious background with director Josh Boone, who identified with the comic book character due to his own strict religious upbringing. • Henry Zaga as Roberto "Bobby" da Costa / Sunspot: A Brazilian mutant who can manipulate solar energy. • Adam Beach as William Lonestar: Dani's father of Cheyenne descent. • Thomas Kee as Thomas Guthrie, Sam's father. • Happy Anderson as Reverend Craig, a priest from Rahne's village. • Dustin Ceithamer (physical portrayal) / Marilyn Manson (voice) as The Smiling Men, Illyana's abusers. Additionally, Dafne Keen also appears as Laura / X-23 in archival footage from Logan (2017). == Production ==

Development In 2009, X-Men film series producer Lauren Shuler Donner revealed to /Film her interest in a film adaptation of the New Mutants comics but that it had yet to be pitched to 20th Century Fox. Disney acquisition Reshoots for the film were slated to begin by the end of September 2018, with Kinberg stating: "audiences really embraced the notion of a superhero movie or a comic book movie that was, in its core, a horror film". Following the acquisition of Fox by Disney in March 2019, it was revealed that the additional photography had still not taken place, nor were they "planned so far". The work was dependent on Boone's involvement, and decisions being made to instead release the film on one of the streaming services owned by The Walt Disney Company. A month later at CinemaCon 2019, Disney confirmed that the film will be released, but indicated that its release date could be adjusted to better fit within Disney's existing schedule. A month after that, the studio pushed the film's release back to April 3, 2020, and the reshoots were set to take place later in 2019. Kinberg explained that they had take time to reschedule because the creative team was still deciding what portions of the film to reshoot due to the difficulty of reuniting the cast given their busy schedules. In August 2019, Disney was reported to be unimpressed with the original cut of The New Mutants, believing it had "limited box office potential". Additional work was completed, after Disney acquired it, to align the film with Boone's original vision, and test screenings with these changes had been positive. In addition to making the film more horror-tinged, these changes also included removing overt connections to the X-Men films. However, the film as released does make reference to the previous entries, with the inclusion of the Essex Corporation connecting the film to the post-credits scene of Apocalypse and to Logan. By December of the same year it was confirmed that work on the film had been taking place, while marketing had been adjusted to align with the style of Marvel Studios. Boone stated that the latest version of the film followed his original vision. In January 2020, Disney's official fan club website D23 described the film as a "new addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)", a statement that was quickly picked up by fans and reporters. Soon after, all mentions of the film were removed from the website, while Disney identified this as an error and stated that the film would not be part of the MCU. Final cut On March 7, 2020, Boone stated that the film was complete. Shortly after, he explained that work on the film had halted when Disney's acquisition of Fox had begun and so no reshoots ever took place on the film, not even standard pickups that had already been scheduled during initial production. At the time, around 75 percent of the film had been edited while much of the film's visual effects were also not finished. By the time the acquisition was completed, Boone had moved on and was about to begin work on a new television series The Stand (2020–2021). Before he started production on that series, Disney asked Boone if he would return to finish the film. Rundell and Sullivan were committed to working on The Stand at that point and could not continue editing The New Mutants, so Boone brought on editor Andrew Buckland to help finish the film. The work required to finish the film when Boone returned involved completing the visual effects and editing alongside co-writer Lee, which took several months. Reshoots for the film could have been scheduled at that point, but Boone found that the three-year wait since principal photography meant that the young cast had aged too much. He also felt it did not make sense to add the post-credit scenes of Banderas since it was unlikely that they would be able to make a sequel now that Disney owned the X-Men rights and was integrating the property into the MCU. Describing returning to the film after so long, Boone said, "we hadn't seen it in a year. We did a bunch of things here and there that we hadn't thought about or noticed a year before." The visual effects that still needed to be finished included Illyana's sorceress abilities, including her Soulsword that she materializes, as well as her dragon companion Lockheed. Visual effects for the film were provided by DNEG, Method Studios, and Moving Picture Company, with Olivier Dumont serving as VFX supervisor. After the film was completed, Boone reunited the cast for the first official screening in New York City, after which Williams stated, "The movie is exactly the movie we set out to make." Disney removed The New Mutants from its release schedule, along with several other films, on March 12, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and was looking to reschedule the film's release to a later 2020 date. On May 4, the film was automatically listed for home media pre-order on Amazon based on the film's previous April 2020 release date. Amazon took the listing down hours later after it had been widely reported on. At that time, the film was still expected to receive a theatrical release rather than be released straight-to-streaming as other films had been during the pandemic. Shortly after, Disney scheduled the film for release on August 28, 2020. Music == Marketing ==

The first trailer for the film was released in October 2017, on Friday the 13th, with a horror focus inspired by the success of the film It, which had been released the month before. Sara Vilkomerson of Entertainment Weekly felt that trailer delivered on Boone's promise of a different type of X-Men film and was "creepy". Vilkomerson also noted the trailer's use of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2"; the title treatment for the film introduced in the trailer evokes the treatment used for that song. Alex McLevy, writing for The A.V. Club, also felt that Boone had delivered on his promise of a "straight-up horror film" and said, "Congrats to this creative team for trying something different with the superhero genre." Writing for /Film, Hoai-Tran Bui said the film looked like a bottle episode for the X-Men franchise and noted that telling a standalone story led to success for Deadpool. Bui also compared the trailer's tone to Stranger Things (in which Heaton also stars as Jonathan Byers) and Braga's performance as Reyes to Nurse Ratched. Boone, Lee, Braga, Zaga, and Sienkiewicz promoted the film at a 2017 Comic Con Experience panel, where they also talked about their plans for future films. A new trailer, incorporating the changes made to the film following Disney's acquisition of Fox, was released on January 6, 2020. Boone sent the trailer to Sienkiewicz in December 2019, and the comic book artist praised it as "phenomenal". He stated that the horror elements of the film were still present in the trailer, but that it now also appeared to have been influenced by the style of Disney's Marvel Studios who he said had appeared to give the latest version of the film "the blessings of Marvel". Aja Romano of Vox also compared the horror elements of this trailer to Stranger Things and felt the film looked like "highly entertaining, if predictable, fun". io9s Charles Pulliam-Moore praised the more comic-accurate superhero abilities included in the new trailer, especially Magik's, and felt that the less superhero-like elements could be what saves the film from being a "flop" like Dark Phoenix. Writing about the trailer for Forbes, Scott Mendelson said the film "seems to be pretty similar in content and tone to what was always promised" and discussed its interesting position as "just a movie" now that the X-Men franchise had ended and future New Mutants films were unlikely after Marvel Studios took control of mutant-based films. Weeks before the film's then-set April 2020 release date, Graeme McMillan of The Hollywood Reporter discussed several television spots released for the film. He stated that the first two, titled "Awaken" and "Escape", followed the tone and style of the previous trailers, while the third one, "Attitude", presented the film more like a traditional superhero film, focusing on action, quips, and superpowers. McMillan felt this was an abrupt shift in marketing given "Attitude" was released just one week after the other two spots and questioned whether the change in tone was to align the marketing to the film or just an attempt to boost interest in the film by reminding audiences of other popular superhero films. A panel for the film was held during the virtual 2020 Comic-Con@Home convention, with Boone and members of the cast. A teaser for the film, to announce the panel, was also released. Ethan Anderton from /Film felt Taylor-Joy had "a great moment referencing herself" as Magik in the teaser and felt the footage "doesn't look half-bad", though he could not say he was excited for the film because of its extensive delays. Anderton also questioned if the film would hold its then-set August 28, 2020 release date, given higher profile films like Tenet and Mulan had shifted back into August, and wondered if the Comic-Con panel would announce a new theatrical release date or a move to Disney+. Germain Lussier at io9 also felt Disney would use the Comic-Con panel to announce new release plans for the films, but the panel reaffirmed the film's August 28 theatrical release date while acknowledging the film's many delays. The film's opening scene was revealed during the panel, which Sienkiewicz joined to discuss a new poster he had drawn for the film. == Release ==

Theatrical The New Mutants was released in the United States on August 28, 2020. It was originally set to be released on April 13, 2018, before being delayed to February 22, 2019, to avoid Deadpool 2, and then to August 2, 2019, to avoid Dark Phoenix. It was delayed to April 3, 2020, by Disney after that studio acquired Fox, and then removed from Disney's schedule in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Disney rescheduled the film for August 28, 2020, two months later. The various delays have led to several online commentators referring to the film as "cursed" and lamenting its bad luck. Boone and the film's cast acknowledged this "curse" during the 2020 Comic-Con@Home convention, which included a "cheeky teaser trailer" that recounted the film's release dates and ended with a "Fingers Crossed" note beside the August 28 date. Boone also revealed the various contracts signed for the film guaranteed a theatrical release, preventing it from first being released on either Disney+ or Hulu. Home media The New Mutants was released on DVD, Blu-ray and Ultra HD Blu-ray by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on November 17, 2020. == Reception ==

Box office The New Mutants grossed $23.9 million in the United States and $25.3 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $49.2 million. Originally tracking to debut to around $20 million in the United States before the COVID-19 pandemic, The New Mutants was projected to gross $5–10 million from 2,412 theaters in its opening weekend. On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 43 out of 100, based on 20 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Writing for The Hollywood Reporter, Jordan Mintzer said, "Generic and, at its best, straining to be heartfelt, director Josh Boone's adaptation of the Marvel spin-off comic series is a Marvel movie spinoff in its own right, making vague references to the X-Men franchise but attempting to stand on its own. Unfortunately it rarely does, even if the film's trio of young and tough female leads manages to give your typically male-dominated genre something of a feminine twist." Amy Nicholson of The New York Times wrote, "Directed in 2017 by Josh Boone... The New Mutants spent three years on ice before being allowed to escape into the slowest summer season in a century. That's fitting for a film that's all buildup and no bang." In the days leading up to the film's release, several major publications, including RogerEbert.com, IndieWire, The A.V. Club, and The Boston Globe, refused to review the film, citing Disney's lack of socially distanced press screenings or digital streaming links and noting that it was not safe to attend a traditional public screening due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The film was nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Comic to Motion Picture Release in 2021. Comics comparison The New Mutants comics co-creator, Bob McLeod, expressed his disappointment with the film for inaccurately depicting the characters: "I was disappointed when they didn't give Dani braids, although I like Blu Hunt. I was disappointed when Rahne wasn't a redhead with spiky hair, although I adore Maisie Williams. I was disappointed that Sam isn't tall and gawky, although I do like Charlie Heaton. But mainly I was very disappointed that Roberto isn't short and dark-skinned. Yet another example of Hollywood white-washing." He also criticized the film for misspelling his name in the credits as "MacLeod". McLeod further felt that fitting the film into the horror genre was a mistake and that it most likely would have fared better had it been a straightforward origin film, akin to the graphic novel that he and Chris Claremont created together. After his comments went viral, he said he felt bad for Henry Zaga, who plays Sunspot, and told people to calm down and that the movie looked like great fun. == Cancelled sequels ==

Boone and Lee originally pitched the film to Kinberg as the first in a trilogy. In October 2017, Boone said that the characters Warlock and Karma would appear in the sequels. In December, Boone and Lee revealed that they were interested in filming the first sequel in Brazil and that Sunspot's father Emmanuel da Costa would play a role in the franchise. Explaining his plans for the sequels, Boone said that he wanted each film in the trilogy to be a different kind of horror movie. The first film is a "'rubber-reality' supernatural horror movie", the second film would have been an alien invasion film featuring Warlock, and the third film would have been an apocalyptic horror film inspired by the 1989 comic book crossover storyline "Inferno". Boone confirmed that the second film would have been set in Brazil and included Antonio Banderas as Emmanuel da Costa. Karma was to be introduced as the villain of the sequel but would have joined the New Mutants by the end of the film alongside Warlock. Boone added that Emmanuel da Costa's connections to the Hellfire Club would have been explored in the first sequel, and he said the overall tone of that film would still have been inspired by Claremont and Sienkiewicz's run. Boone had wanted Sacha Baron Cohen to portray Warlock through motion capture and had discussed the role with Cohen during production on the first film. In March 2019, Disney officially acquired Fox and gained the film rights to several Marvel Comics characters for Marvel Studios, including the New Mutants. The Marvel-based films that Fox had been developing were placed "on hold". In March 2020, Boone stated that while it was unlikely that a sequel to The New Mutants could be made now that X-Men characters were being integrated into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he still hoped that the film would be successful enough to allow a sequel to be made. That August, Boone confirmed that there were no plans to incorporate the film into the MCU. == References ==