One source claimed earlier today that X-Men: Dark Phoenix was heading for a hefty three month period of reshoots which, when put together with the fact that initial production only lasted three and a half months, suggested that the whole film was being done over practically from scratch. However, Collider has now come forward to set the record straight.
According to “sources close to the production,” Dark Phoenix is heading back to Montreal later this year for its reshoots, but they’ll only last two and a bit weeks. This is pretty much the standard length for superhero movie reshoots and about the same time spent touching up Thor: Ragnarok and Black Panther.
As that sounds, Collider disputes that these reshoots will significantly change the shape of the movie. Their report states that “the additional photography will involve some additional action in the film’s third act, a couple of new scenes, and adding some shots for existing scenes.” So, by the sounds of it, most of what writer/director Simon Kinberg shot last year will still stay.
The site also has some thoughts on which of Dark Phoenix‘s ensemble cast could play a part in the reshoots. Collider makes the very good point that James McAvoy and Jessica Chastain are currently busy with It: Chapter Two and likely won’t be free to jump back to the X-Men universe. Meanwhile, seeing as she’s the title character, Sophie Turner will probably be involved, so it’s handy that she’s just wrapped on the final season of Game of Thrones.
Overall, this is definitely good to hear, but it’s worth mentioning that the test screening of the first cut of the movie wasn’t exactly great. Still, with any luck, these reshoots will be able to fix things up and everything should still be on course for X-Men: Dark Phoenix to descend into theaters on February 14th.