A new report sheds some light on why Fox’s final X-Men film, Dark Phoenix, failed at the box office with the lowest opening in franchise history.
Dark Phoenix debuted last weekend with the worst opening for an X-Men film to date at $33 million. The film didn’t have much buzz leading up to release with a 22% on Rotten Tomatoes and a B- CinemaScore. Deadline reports the film could lose the studio $100-$120 million dollars with a projected budget of $350 million plus.
Deadline goes on to say that the Dark Phoenix box office bomb is in large part due to the failure of X-Men: Apocalypse, Fox trusting in a first time director, and the fact that it was never meant to be a summer blockbuster. The marketing campaign was also reportedly doomed, with Fox execs not knowing about the release date change.
What did you think of Dark Phoenix? Sound off in the comments below!
This is the story of one of the X-Men’s most beloved characters, Jean Grey, as she evolves into the iconic DARK PHOENIX. During a life-threatening rescue mission in space, Jean is hit by a cosmic force that transforms her into one of the most powerful mutants of all. Wrestling with this increasingly unstable power as well as her own personal demons, Jean spirals out of control, tearing the X-Men family apart and threatening to destroy the very fabric of our planet. The film is the most intense and emotional X-Men movie ever made. It is the culmination of 20 years of X-Men movies, as the family of mutants that we’ve come to know and love must face their most devastating enemy yet — one of their own.
Written and directed by Simon Kinberg, Dark Phoenix stars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Sophie Turner, Tye Sheridan, Alexandra Shipp, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Evan Peters, and Jessica Chastain.
Dark Phoenix is now playing in theaters!
Source: Deadline
