The New Mutants: Why the movie isn’t destined to go directly to streaming

The New Mutants director explained why the movie won’t go to streaming first.

Josh Boone, director of The New Mutants is clarifying one thing about The New Mutants that just won’t go away. While the movie has been delayed numerous times, many have joked online that the only rational thing to do at this point is to move the movie from a theatrical release to a streaming release. But Boone is doubling down on the fact that this movie will see the light of day in theaters.

Boone revealed this in an interview with Collider to speak on the subject of how the movie will be released. Some pointed out that Disney+ would be a good home for the movie to release on, seeing as X-Men movies are slowly migrating there. Or, otherwise, the Disney-owned Hulu might make a good home for it as well, seeing as the PG-13 rating and horror angle might be a little too much for Disney+’s (often questionable) family-friendly brand.

So, why can’t The New Mutants just release at home? Boone explained in the interview:

"With most movies, you sign contracts that guarantee a theatrical release, so it needs to open to ever go digital in the first place. We just, too, would like to see people to see it in the theater. But it needs to obviously be at the right time when it’s safe to go back."

Due to the pandemic, the movie had been pushed back from April 3 to Aug. 28, 2020. At San Diego Comic-Con last week, they even joked in the panel that their fingers were crossed that the movie could make it out next month. Seeing as more movies are getting what feels like double and triple delays due to the pandemic, going to a movie theater a month out from now (at least in the U.S.), doesn’t seem all that plausible.

It’s possible that the movie can get an on-time-ish opening internationally, as conditions are different from the U.S. around the globe. But of course, the domestic market is always a crucial one to capture nonetheless. So this has really just become a waiting game more than anything else. The movie is roaring and ready to go, but right now, it’s all dependent on the state of the world.

So, while it would be a good thing for the movie to hit streaming services, The New Mutants looks like it’ll keep its head held high. To be fair, there’s really nothing wrong about having a video-on-demand or streaming release, and for some movies that have gone straight to VOD, it’s been a happy medium for people who are still at home and in need of something fun to do. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like The New Mutants will be among those movies, though, so fans will just have to wait for theaters to open at this point.

Do you think The New Mutants is worth waiting for in theaters? Let us know in the comments. And for more, check out the Comics section on FanSided.com.