The New Mutants gets a new theatrical release date after being delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Originally conceived as a spinoff from 20th Century Fox's larger X-Men movie universe, The New Mutants has been delayed multiple times. Most recently, it was delayed from its April release date as a result of movie theaters all around the world being closed to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 strain of coronavirus.

Before this most recent delay, New Mutants had been pushed back a few times, first due to trouble scheduling reshoots with the film's in-demand cast, then because it changed studios. The New Mutants was one of many titles acquired by Walt Disney Studios as part of the Mouse House's deal with Fox for their movie and TV assets. Those assets included not only the completed or near-completed X-Men movies Dark Phoenix and New Mutants, but the film rights for the X-Men and Fantastic Four characters. At a certain point, The New Mutants was delayed so many times, some fans began to doubt it would ever see the light of day. Now we know Disney does plan to debut the movie later this year.

Today, Disney announced The New Mutants release date has shifted to August 28, with a theatrical debut expected. See the announcement tweet, featuring The New Mutants poster with the new date, below.


Since the movie was acquired by Disney and especially in light of The New Mutants release date delay due to the pandemic, there have been rumors and speculation among fans about whether the film would skip theaters altogether and head straight to streaming and/or on-demand. Last week, The New Mutants was available to preorder on Amazon for a brief period of time, prompting some to believe Disney was planning to skip a theatrical release. After all, Disney's Artemis Fowl, another movie delayed due to theater shutdowns, is officially set to premiere on Disney+ instead of in theaters. However, this New Mutants announcement confirms the X-Men movie is indeed heading to theaters.

That said, it's unclear whether The New Mutants has a future beyond this movie. Though The New Mutants was originally envisioned as the first installment of a trilogy, future sequels are in doubt now that the franchise belongs to Disney. Former Disney CEO Bob Iger previously said the only X-Men character expected to not be rebooted is Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool, which insinuated the New Mutants characters were likely to be recast. While that means there's little reason for fans to become attached to director Josh Boone's New Mutants, fans of the comic book characters have been waiting for this movie to release for many years now. That wait will finally come to an end when The New Mutants hits theaters this summer (unless it's delayed again, of course).

New Mutants (2020)
Release Date: Aug 28, 2020