When it comes to X-Men: Dark Phoenix, it seems that things aren't looking too bright.
The sequel to 2016's X-Men Apocalypse, Dark Phoenix is finally nearing its June 7 launch
after stumbling through multiple delays and an in-depth round of reshoots.
Sadly, whatever it was they filmed during those reshoots may not have done much to improve
the movie's fortunes.
In fact, the most recent Dark Phoenix-related news could spell even more trouble, serving
as what could be a fatal blow for the flick.
According to journalist Skyler Shuler, studio 20th Century Fox recently held a test screening
for Dark Phoenix to collect audience's reactions to the latest cut and gauge how well the film
might do upon its wide theatrical release this summer.
What Fox likely hoped would be a successful pre-premiere showing apparently turned out
disastrous, as the screening is said to have completely bombed.
This is now the third Dark Phoenix test showing that has garnered an unsavory response from
viewers.
Shuler alleged on Twitter: "Another X-Men: Dark Phoenix test screening, and guess what?
I now have talked to 6 people who all went to 3 different test screenings, and all of
them have told me the screenings were BAD."
"Don't you say that!!"
One fan responded:
"I went to one of the screenings.
Everybody LAUGHED SO HARD in a scene supposed to be so serious."
"NO!
No…"
And Shuler replied: "I think I know what scene you're referring to."
And this isn't even the first time the movie has failed to wow test audiences.
Earlier this month, Shuler relayed that Dark Phoenix was shaping up to earn a spot in the
lower echelon of Fox's superhero films.
That would put it right alongside the slapped-together, incoherent, 2015 Fantastic Four reboot, which
is better known online as "Fant4stic" because of the film's, uh, questionable marketing
campaign.
Tweeted Shuler on January 2:
"Based on what I have heard, this movie [could] be Fant4stic level BAD."
"She's gone…
She's gone…
She's…"
Of course, this movie's been in trouble for a long, long while, if reports are to be believed.
The very first crummy Dark Phoenix test screening apparently took place sometime before March
2018.
That's when Collider published an exclusive report claiming that writer-director Simon
Kinberg and Fox executives had screened Dark Phoenix for a test audience, quote, "to see
what was working and what wasn't," and that the response to the movie pushed the Dark
Phoenix team to delay the movie's release and order additional photography.
While a movie going on with reshoots doesn't always indicate poor test screening response,
it seems to be the case with Dark Phoenix.
ScreenRant reported at the time, quote, "Dark Phoenix's delay has been heavily influenced
by reshoots in response to test screenings."
Metro UK followed up in September 2018 that the reshoots were a direct response to, quote,
"devastating test screening reactions."
Fox's plans for reshoots were made even more difficult because of the logistical headaches
involved in re-assembling a cast full of Hollywood A-Listers, actors like Sophie Turner as Jean
Grey, Michael Fassbender as Magneto, James McAvoy as Charles Xavier, Jennifer Lawrence
as Mystique, and Nicholas Hoult as Beast, among several others.
As a result, the reshoots were scheduled for fall of 2018, pushing Dark Phoenix from its
intended November 2018 launch to a February 14, 2019 one.
Reshoots reportedly began on August 31, 2018, but may not have wrapped before Fox rolled
out the first trailer for Dark Phoenix at the end of September.
That footage revealed that Dark Phoenix had been delayed a second time, moving from Valentine's
Day 2019 to June 7, its current and unlikely-to-change debut date.
From there, it looks as though Fox conducted the second test screening for Dark Phoenix
after releasing the first trailer, holding it at the tail end of 2018 or the start of
2019.
But judging by the Tweets and fan-reports that have come out since then, it doesn't
sound as if the reshoots have done much to help the film's reception among test audiences.
"No… noooo."
If Dark Phoenix turns out to be as rough as test screening attendees say it is, it would
be a sad way for the X-Men franchise to go out before the characters shuffle over to
the Marvel Studios wing of the Walt Disney Company.
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