Caffeinated Clint
“Dark Phoenix” – or “X-Men: Dark Phoenix” as it was marketed internationally – looks poised to lose as much as $100m.
In what’s the lowest take for an “X-Men” film, the critically-slammed sequel chalked up only $33m in ticket sales domestically, and snared worse reviews than a Meatloaf recital of the national anthem.
The simmering production did slightly better overseas, ringing up $140m at the register, but the numbers aren’t a shade on the coin “X-Men : Days of Future Past” ($262.9m) and “X-Men : Apocalypse” ($166.m) made in previous years.
According to Deadline, the film is expected to lose between $100m-$120m after ancillaries production costs, and publicity and advertising are taken into account. It’s expected the make about $300-$325m all up – that’s not much help to the $350m in costs that still need to be recovered. The Fox employees will be lucky if they get enough out of this to get their car serviced.
While many claim it was Fox dropped the ball here – they delayed the film considerably, offered up that shoddy script, and greenlit the wrong choice of director (long-time series producer Simon Kinberg), in my opinion- nobody can say for sure who’s fault it was.
Initially, “Dark Phoenix” was intended to be two movies, but during pre-production, Fox decided to combine the two into one. Kinberg quickly adapted to the switcheroo, rewriting the script, and not ostensibly didn’t miss a beat.
But it was during the end of production that the production seems to have been visited by a vengeful gypsy.
The changes started with a new ending…
We heard that in one cut, Jean Grey dies, which wasn’t received well. But overall, the major ending change-up, executed in reshoots, entailed going from an intimate ending with Jean Grey (Sophie Turner), Tye Sheridan (Cyclops), and Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) against Jessica Chastain’s Vuk. The feeling from the audience in testing was that they wanted to see all the X-Men heroes fighting in the end. There have been reports out there that the ending was changed-up because it was too similar to Captain Marvel. This isn’t true: No one on the Fox/Dark Phoenix production side had any intel of what Captain Marvel would be like before it was released. It was the all-team reshoot that pushed Dark Phoenix from its original Nov. 2 release date (which went to ultimate 4-time Oscar winner and Fox blockbuster finale pre-merger Bohemian Rhapsody) to Feb. 14. We understand Kinberg got to make the film he wanted to make, and was flexible about reshoots with the studio. Many would like to feasibly blame a screenwriter-turned-first time $200M production film director on missing the mark here. However, as we wrote, Kinberg demonstrated his finesse in saving previous Fox/Marvel and X-Men productions. Fox production executives could have gone with a more seasoned director, but decided not to, and in doing so, they failed in riding herd on Kinberg early enough. By the time they did decided to ride monitor Kinberg, it was too late, and production was too far down the road.
The trades suggest that audiences were put off “Dark Phoenix” the moment it was announced that the film was undergoing reshoots. While totally normal for a film of this size, Fox PR were said to have mismanaged the image of perception of film, particularly when they didn’t address the weeks of commissioned extra lensing.
The film was then delayed from Feb 14 to June 7 – and just two days after the second trailer, which advertised the film as hitting theaters Feb 14, was dropped. The swift decision to push told audiences the film was a stinker.
Deadline says the marketing brass at Fox have been distracted by the whole Disney-Fox merger thing and as such screwed up the campaign for “Dark Phoenix”.
..we understand they’ve been a mess, distracted, with a revolving door of execs. We heard this around the time that Alita came out, that the filmmakers were dealing with different people in different marketing meetings. Some folks inform us that ever since Marc Weinstock left Fox as the head of domestic marketing in November 2016 (he’s now over at Paramount), the studio has been challenged to event-ize their slate (i.e. War of the Planet of the Apes, Alita, Dark Phoenix, and even Widows, which played well with audiences. However, give credit where credit is due — Bohemian Rhapsody was a magnificent swan song for the studio).
I understand in meetings, some marketing execs didn’t even realize the release date changes on Dark Phoenix, and weren’t cognizant of the fact that the film was opening up against another franchise this weekend (i.e. Secret Life of Pets 2). Says one source, “They never brought it up in meetings that we were on the same date.” Another bashed the marketing materials: “Sophie Turner is a beautiful actress, and they never showed that in any of the marketing materials. Instead, they made her look like a zombie.”
Disney, who took on the project when they acquired Fox, even tried to push “Dark Phoenix” onto Disney Channel, or some other less-risky platform, but decided it was too late to retweak the release strategy.
The film was, by all accounts, D.O.A.
But does the box office represent the finished product? not so much, says Moviehole critic K.T Simpson, who argues that although the film isn’t as polished or as epic as the previous entries int he “X-Men” series, “Dark Phoenix” still has its good qualities.
The strength of the piece though is in the story at hand – this is a strong character-driven piece that’s handled astutely and affectionately.
Yes, the minimalist approach to the brand might sour some, but the strength of the play and plays on screen should help turn the noise down on the cut-back look and feel.
Not to say this is a film without issues.
The most noticeable flaw “Dark Phoenix” encompasses is in its direction. Long time “X-Men” screenwriter Simon Kinberg has the reigns here, and his inexperience and lack of flair is palpable. Where Bryan Singer, director of the first and best two films in the series, would provide emotional, tense punch to drive the storyline and structure his grandiose action sequences, Kinberg seemingly lacks the know-how to motivate or push a scene along, content with just letting each scene – shot in a lazy ‘point and shoot’ method – just wipe from one to the next. Kinberg is the wimp tackling the jock, he’s devoid of punch.
The film resembles not a pricey superhero epic but a small, modestly-budgeted cable TV pilot. Nothing particularly wrong with that, but considering the size and scope of the films that came before it, the intimacy and restraints here are highly noticeable. And some will feel let down by that – but maybe they only need be reminded that bigger isn’t necessarily better by going back and watching “X-Men : The Last Stand”, “X-Men Origins : Wolverine” or “X-Men : Apocalypse”.
Scrappy direction and plotting aside, What saves “Dark Phoenix” is the capable cast, outstanding visual and special effects and relatable, character-driven plot. Inspired by the popular comic book arc of the same name (and forgettably used to poor effect in “X-Men : The Last Stand”), this is a real-world anecdote masked in superhero clothing. Just as the majority of the “X-Men” movies were essentially about racism, prejudice and acceptance, this chapter is about mental illness, the difficulty of controlling it and the shameful damage that can result from episodes. Sure, there’s a cosmic superhero excuse for Jean Grey’s actions, but underneath that, a reminder that a ‘dark’ feeling can overcome any of us, at any time, and it’s important that the victim knows people are there for him or her, and help them get help before any damage is done to themselves or others.
So, what now? Surprisingly, if only because they like to quickly remedy their mistakes, Marvel are in no rush to reboot “X-Men”.
“There is no rush to bring the X-Men to the marketplace after this,” an unnamed producer tells THR. “And when they come back, it’s going to extend Marvel’s run another 10 years.
One rumor floating about is that, sometime within the next five years, Disney and Marvel will bring back both the “X-Men” and “Fantastic Four” franchises but they’ll be far, far different from what’s come before. Suggestion has also hit the internet that Keanu Reeves, who himself says he’d be keen to do it, would like to play the ‘new’ Wolverine.
