The New Mutants' twisted path to the box office may have just straightened out a bit when a Comic-Con panel featuring cast cast and crew from the show gave beleaguered fans a bit of good news. The show's tentative release date was announced during the panel, which also featured some teaser footage as a thank you to patient fans.
The half-hour panel took place during the San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) virtual conventio. Titled “The New Mutants,” it featured cast members Maisie Williams, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Heaton, Alice Braga, Blu Hunt, and Henry Zaga along with writer-director Josh Boone. The good news came in the form of two separate clips. The first one was a light-hearted jab at the show’s messy production history that ended with the tentative release date of Aug. 28 and and moments later the message “fingers crossed.” The second clip was opening scenes from the movie followed by an acknowledgement to fans by Boone that production on the show has been difficult.
Production of The New Mutants faced multiple setbacks, both COVID-19 related and otherwise. First was Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox that threw show production into limbo. Second was the pandemic, which has led to a wave of theatrical release delays that The New Mutants just got swept up in.
The New Mutants announcement was part of a massive pivot by Disney on when many of its biggest titles would release to audiences. Tentpole franchises like Star Wars and Avatar got new release dates along with the live action release of Mulan. There is no guarantee any of these titles even hit theaters due to uncertainties caused by the pandemic.
The SDCC online Panel and fresh bits of news about The New Mutants is a temporary salve for fans who have been a roller coaster ride to release day. The director openly joked about production woes during the panel with the discussions often feeling words of encouragement for fans to stick it out a bit longer.
Unfortunately, the movie is climbing perhaps its steepest hill with COVID-19 casting a pall all over Hollywood. It’s not certain if New Mutants will hit its release date nor when the rest of Hollywood will get back to normal, so until then fans will just have to muster up a bit more patience.
Source: Comic-Con International/YouTube