The New Mutants director discusses his “traumatic” experience
“Never again!” Josh Boone doesn’t have good memories of his X-Men.
He experienced the full impact of the takeover of Fox by Disney… and the Covid!
Josh Boone planned to revitalize the superhero genre by putting a little horror into the X-Men universe, with The New Mutants. But upon arrival, the experience encountered so many obstacles that it became deeply traumatic in his career.
Promoting his new film Regretting YouBoone told the difficult behind the scenes of the film shot in 2017, but which was not released until 2020, because it was initially produced by 20th Century Fox before the takeover by Disney. Production was drowned out by constant delays, reshoots and the pandemic.
“It was very hard to live with and it turned out to be very traumatic,” Boone told The Direct.
“The studio was sold in the middle of filming, and then the pandemic hit right before the release date that Disney had chosen. I loved working with this cast, I really did, but making this movie… it took so many years and in the end, it was very frustrating.”
Intended to be a horror spin-off from the X-Men universe, the film was ultimately released in August 2020, in the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was a critical and commercial failure, grossing less than $40 million worldwide.
Despite his crazy casting — Anya Taylor-Joy, Maisie Williams, Charlie Heaton — Boone admits they were never able to make the movie they really wanted. “We only did half of what we wanted to do,” he summarizes.
So for him, superheroes are over! Asked about a possible return to the genre, with the exploration of mutants in the MCU, he is categorical: “Never again.”
Marvel Studios is currently developing a new X-Men film, starring Jake Schreier (Thunderbolts) attached to the production.
