It’s official: After a long and bumpy road, The New Mutants is officially one of the lowest-grossing superhero films of all time.
The New Mutants has had a rocky run. The horror-themed X-Men spinoff was delayed several times, whether by the pandemic or as a result of Disney purchasing 20th Century Fox or something else. It did finally come out, but it was released amid a global pandemic that saw many movie theaters shut their doors, and those that remained open weren’t doing brisk business.
So perhaps it’s no surprise that the movie didn’t kill it at the box office. In fact, The New Mutants is officially one of the lowest-grossing superhero films ever, and that’s taking both Marvel and DC movies into account. According to Forbes, the film has only made $18.6 million domestically. That marks a huge loss for the studio, which reportedly spent around $80 million making the film, and that’s before accounting for marketing. The movie still has a bit more time left in theaters, but it’s projected to end its run taking in around $23 million domestically. Ouch.
That means the film isn’t likely to make even as much as 2005’s Elektra, which earned $24.4 million domestically. It’s more on par with non-DC/Marvel films like 2019’s Hellboy ($22 million) and 2008’s The Spirit ($19 million). Compared to most MCU movies, that’s small potatoes…but there are certainly plenty of extenuating circumstances to blame things on.
The film’s flop isn’t really a shock, given that Fox’s X-Men movies typically haven’t been as well-received as Disney’s Marvel films and that the movie had the misfortune of arriving in theaters while anxieties about COVID-19 are still high. Even Christopher Nolan’s Tenet, which arguably had more hype, saw lower-than-usual box office numbers upon its North American release. With such disappointing openings, it’s no wonder studios have begun pushing their movies back to next year.
The New Mutants’ numbers don’t bode well for movie theaters or new movies heading into the final months of 2020. They also bode well for the X-Men franchise as a whole; one has to wonder if Disney will even bother with more X-Men films moving forward.
With any luck, things will look up by the time the next big film hits theaters — which, honestly, could be a while. At this rate, we’re probably just lucky The New Mutants hit theaters at all. Better luck next movie.
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