It hasn’t even been finalised, but the proposed Fox-Disney merger may have already started having some huge ramifications.
Specifically, several rumours have emerged this morning that Fox is planning to scrap most, if not all, of its slate of upcoming X-Men films. As well as a bunch of films in pre-production, such as the third Deadpool film and the long-gestating Gambit movie starring Channing Tatum, this would affect two movies that are already deep into production: the X-Men horror spin-off New Mutants, and the next film in the main line of X-Men films, X-Men: Dark Phoenix.
This is huge for the latter two films as they’ve already shown off part of their end products: Dark Phoenix screened a trailer to investors at a trade conference in Europe, while The New Mutants dropped a trailer back in October, starring Game of Thrones’ Maisie Williams.
Part of the reason for the sudden decision is that the films in-production have faced a series of troubles, with several reshoots and poor showings in test screenings.
More immediately, Fox’s entertainment arm, which includes the production of the X-Men films, will soon be sold to Disney to the tune of $60 billion dollars.
Fox execs after they get that Disney money.
There’s talk that Fox wants to shelve the films to ensure that the change in hands of the rights to The House Of Mouse is as smooth as possible. Disney already owns the rights to all the other characters under the Marvel Comics umbrella, famously creating the Marvel Cinematic Universe. So there’d be a definite desire to integrate the World Of Mutants into the MCU as soon as possible.
There are already rumours that New Mutants and Dark Phoenix will be launched on Disney’s new streaming service, rather than a traditional cinematic release. That way, they’d avoid potentially breaking contracts with acting talent, while still essentially burying the film.
The X-Men films have been one of the biggest franchises under the Fox banner, with the first X-Men film in 2000 launching the current trend of superhero films, as well as the career of a then-little-known Australian actor named Hugh Jackman.
Or rather, they made his ABS famous! Amirite?
More recently, the R-rated X-Men spin-off Deadpool and its sequel Deadpool 2 have proven to be huge critical and commercial successes for Fox. But with no confirmation from Fox or Disney, what happens to Deadpool and the rest of the X-Men Universe remains to be seen.