As of this writing, The New Mutants is still set for an August 28th release date in theaters, which becomes increasingly unlikely by the day. Just this week alone, Mulan and Tenet were pulled from August, and both films currently sit in limbo as Disney and Warner Bros. take a “wait and see” approach while the pandemic continues to spike in America.
But even more blockbusters started abandoning, uncertainty around the The New Mutants making it into theaters was already mounting, which revived speculation that the long-delayed mutant movie would be released on Disney+ or video on-demand. Fans were certain that a streaming announcement would be made during The New Mutants panel at Comic-Con, but nothing materialized. The film stood firm on its August release date.
However, in a new interview with Comic Book, director Josh Boone doesn’t shy away from questions about The New Mutants releasing on streaming, and in fact, he’s all for it as long as fans finally get a chance to see the film after all of these years.
“Well, I mean, I don’t really get scared about stuff like that. I just want as many people to see it as possible. And for everybody who wants to see it to be able to see it,” Boone explained. “So obviously if we can do it theaters, that’s always my first choice. But like Disney came to me and said they were gonna stream it I’d be like awesome. Then everybody can watch it. It’d be great.”
Of course, just releasing The New Mutants on streaming is easier said than done. As we reported back in April, the streaming rights are most likely locked down by HBO, which had a deal with 20th Century Fox that doesn’t expire until 2022. That arrangement would prevent Disney from releasing The New Mutants on Disney+ or Hulu unless it somehow works out a deal with HBO, which is certainly possible. That said, Disney does have the option of releasing The New Mutants on VOD where it would be available for purchase or rental. But once that happens, it will start the countdown for the movie to hit HBO once the streaming window begins.
In short, it’s a messy situation with no easy answers like everything in these pandemic days.
(Via Comic Book)