Why X-Men: Dark Phoenix Just Got Delayed
Even that first trailer is now outdated.
Regardless of where you land on the next X-Men film starring Sophie Turner and centring on the evolution of the Jean Grey/Dark Phoenix character, it seems Fox themselves weren't especially sure on how it would be received.
Initially pegged to drop later this year, the flick was then delayed until February 14th, 2019 (the date that appears on the first full-length trailer). Bizarrely, though it does make some sense, Dark Phoenix has now been pushed back another six months, into a Summer slot of June 9th.
It might sound tantamount to madness, and the movie is currently undergoing extensive reshoots as you read this, but the reason is likely not in creative or artistic endeavours, but box office return.
See, although the general reception in western media has been fairly muted towards Dark Phoenix, sitting on a respectable-but-nothing-amazing 9 million views at time of writing, the movie has done a whopping 44 million views in China.
Down to China's burgeoning film market and their embracement of many movie tropes and genres we've seen done to death, it appears there is a country-wide interest in the flick overall. The 44 million figure was achieved in the same timeframe as our 9, and has likely taken Fox by surprise.
As Deadline also notes, Fox's Gambit movie - although full release is delayed to March 13th, 2020 - is pegged to begin filming at the start of next year too; potentially meaning post-credits stingers or specific scenes could be used during Dark Phoenix's release, to build hype for the future.
Tag on the New Mutants movie which we're supposed to be getting on August 2nd, 2019, and you have a definable financial reason to make 2019 the year of the X-Men.