Few movies have had as many delays as The New Mutants. The first trailer for the X-Men film arrived in October of 2017 and it was supposed to release in April the following year. Then it was delayed to February of 2019 due to reports of a disastrous production. That release date came and went, too, and August of 2019 became the new date of arrival. Then came the Fox purchase by Disney and the movie was in limbo under a new studio until yet another new release date of April 3rd, 2020 was set.
Since then, we haven’t heard too much more about the film, but at least we now have its rating confirmed. The original trailer touted a much darker tone within the X-Men universe and The New Mutants resembled a horror pic mixed with The Breakfast Club. This prompted fans to speculate whether it might receive an R rating. The possibility didn’t seem crazy, either, considering Fox was coming off of huge successes in Logan and Deadpool. But ever since the Mouse House seized control of the property, a PG-13 rating was almost certain and it seems that’s indeed the case.
The New Mutants creator Bill Sienkiewicz and director Josh Boone confirmed the rating on social media this week, saying the following:
Scary film at PG-13. The atmosphere, mystery, & tone of Josh’s direction makes it work. The cast is stellar, not horror tropes who split from the group 1 by 1 like idiots only to get offed. They’re a team united; forged by the horror, and that’s new take. Bravo Josh & Co. https://t.co/HDpCZNp9Ro
— Bill Sienkiewicz (@sinKEVitch) January 5, 2020
Sienkiewicz also appeared on Kevin Smith and Marc Bernardin’s Fatman Beyond podcast where he praised the new trailer he was able to see recently, saying:
“I don’t know if I’m even allowed to mention any of this, but I will say that The New Mutants film if you’ve heard anything about it the last couple years… two days ago, I heard from Josh Boone, the director. And he sent me a new trailer. They’ve been working on it, and it is phenomenal. I got chills. It looks like, because of the whole Disney-Fox merger, takeover, whatever … it’s got the blessings of Marvel. And it feels more Marvel in terms of what they’re doing, but also the horror elements of the film are in place. It’s really, absolutely stellar, just what I’ve seen. I think it’s coming out — they haven’t mentioned the exact release date, but I’m very excited about it.”
During the property’s time at Fox, it became a tradition for X-Men films to endure troubled productions. From The Last Stand to Origins: Wolverine and last year’s Dark Phoenix, Fox’s batting average for smooth productions wasn’t great. But with praise from the creator of the source material and hype now starting to build for this week’s new trailer, things may finally be looking up for The New Mutants.