The good news is that Walt Disney Studios & 20th Century Fox's
Dark Phoenix is the #1 movie in the world with an estimated worldwide opening of $140 million ($33M domestic; $107M foreign), but the bad news is that figure falls seriously short of its initial box office projections of $170 million.
The poorly received Simon Kinberg-directed superhero feature has now cemented its place as the lowest-opener in the entire
X-Men franchise, both domestically and internationally, which is disappointing to say the least. It's also looking increasingly unlikely that China will come to its rescue as it opened to an underwhelming $45.6 million there this past weekend.
Deadline is now reporting that the film could ultimately lose anywhere between $100 million and $120 million after ancillaries, based on an estimated production and P&A cost of $350 million (including reshoots). They're also projecting a final tally in the $300 million to $325 million range, although after this weekend, box office experts wouldn't be surprised if it ends up dipping to $285 million.
DHD has also shared additional insight on the original
Dark Phoenix pitch, which was indeed for two films, but the studio decided to change course and made it into just one movie. The film's original ending was supposed to be a considerably more intimate affair as Jean Grey (Sophie Turner), Cyclops (Tye Sheridan), and Professor X (James McAvoy) battled Vuk (Jessica Chastain), resulting in Jean Grey's death. However, that ending wasn't received well in test screenings and was changed to the extended train battle where all of the X-Men battle the D'Bari.
Additionally, it appears Simon Kinberg's recent claims that
Dark Phoenix originally ended too similarly to
Captain Marvel appear to have been somewhat overblown as neither he nor anyone on the
Dark Phoenix production team had any advanced knowledge of the
Captain Marvel ending prior to release.
The reshoots, in actuality, were solely to incorporate the train battle and essentially were completed with little to no trouble. The time spent on the additional photography was actually less than the time spent on reshoots for
X-Men: First Class,
X-Men: Days of Future Past, and
X-Men: Apocalypse. However, unlike those films, the internet caught word of the
Dark Phoenix reshoots and instantly assumed the worst, spreading vitriol about the film months prior to release, which was something 20th Century Fox's PR teams just couldn't recover from and made the film increasingly more difficult to market.
As for the rest of the domestic box office,
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To prepare for the dual roles of Jean Grey and the Dark Phoenix, star Sophie Turner studied schizophrenia and dissociative identity disorder to do her best to capture Jean's internal struggle. “
I found this amazing video on YouTube, and it was what it feels like to have auditory hallucinations. I put it in my ears and I walked around [New York City], and I tried to function doing mundane tasks like shopping and talking to people on the street, and it was f—ing difficult!”
When the Dark Phoenix (Sophie Turner) kills a key member of the team, the X-Men will schism into two different factions, but based on this photo, it does look like everyone will be reunited during the film's third act, which reportedly takes place on a train after a secret government agency captures them.
The friendship between Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Beast (Nicholas Hoult) will be tested like never before after Jean (Sophie Turner) accidentally kills Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence). While Charles hopes to save her, Beast looks to stop her by any means necessary.
If Marvel Studios opts for a complete reboot and recasting of the X-Men, Sophie Turner could be saying goodbye to two iconic franchises within weeks of each other with
Game of Thrones expected to wrap up on May 19th and then,
Dark Phoenix set to open on June 7th.
Simon Kinberg is arguably one of the most successful producers working in Hollywood today with a resume that includes the likes of
Logan,
X-Men: Days of Future Past,
Deadpool, and
The Martian; and now, he's ready for his directorial debut on what will likely be the end for a franchise that initially kickstarted the superhero movie revolution.
Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) attempts to reason with Jean (Sophie Turner) and bring her home safely, but, as the trailers have somewhat questionably revealed, this is an encounter that isn't going to end well for her.
It sounds like Sophie Turner really worked hard on perfecting her portrayal of the Dark Phoenix and even surprised her producers and castmates with her level of dedication and preparation. Producer Hutch Parker says, “
The movie is about Jean evolving from this character into something else, and that’s what Sophie did. She went from being honestly a kid on [2016’s] X-Men: Apocalypse to being unbelievably committed to the work and showing up with a level of preparation that definitely said, ‘Oh sh—!’” James McAvoy adds, “
If Sophie had to do 10 hours of work, she’d do 20 hours of prep. She definitely put herself in the hands of Simon and relied on him, as well as helped him to create this dynamic.”
Magneto (Michael Fassbender) will apparently have settled down in Genosha when the film picks up, but it looks like he'll be quickly brought back into the fray when he hears of Mystique's (Jennifer Lawrence) untimely passing and it sounds like he's going to do everything he can to take down Jean (Sophie Turner).
Professor X (James McAvoy) finds himself essentially stuck between a rock and a hard place as he works to simultaneously save Jean (Sophie Turner), keep his X-Men safe from her uncontrollable rage, and prevent Magneto (Michael Fassbender) and the Brotherhood from killing her.
While it had been heavily rumored the film would feature the death of a major character, this photo was the first to give us confirmation and thanks to the trailer, we now know it'll be Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) that finds herself six feet under.
Beast (Nicholas Hoult), Storm (Alexandra Shipp), Cyclops (Tye Sheridan), Professor X (James McAvoy), and Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) stand together as the X-Men as they find themselves squaring off with their friend-turned-most dangerous woman alive, the Dark Phoenix (Sophie Turner).
It remains to be seen who 2x Academy Award-nominee Jessica Chastain is playing, but based on everything we've seen and heard, it's no one with good intentions. Plus, it looks like things are really going to go poorly for Magneto (Michael Fassbender) in his retirement.
It appears that both Storm (Alexandra Shipp), Nightcrawler (Kodi Smit-McPhee), and Beast (Nicholas Hoult) will be siding with Magneto (Michael Fassbender) in this latest conflict and will be actively working to bring down Jean (Sophie Turner) before she does more damage.
While she's essentially the villain of the piece, Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) will be plenty conflicted about her recent transformation that caused her to accidentally kill her mentor Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence).
The film will also expand on the burgeoning romance between Cyclops (Tye Sheridan) and Jean Grey (Sophie Turner), but whether or not it'll end better than it did in
X-Men: The Last Stand remains to be seen.
Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) will be adopting, at least, two drastically different looks in the film - one will be her classic X-Men costume and the other will be similar to Famke Janssen's Phoenix look with the red overcoat and all.
While it was uncertain whether Jennifer Lawrence would return to the franchise after her deal expired, it appears that killing off her character was more than enough to convince the Academy Award-winner to return for one final go-round.
Jessica Chastain's character has been rumored to be a variety of people from X-Men lore, but we have yet to receive any official confirmation, although, regardless of her name, she's going to have nefarious intentions for the Dark Phoenix (Sophie Turner).
Jessica Chastain's character will arrive in Jean's (Sophie Turner) time of need and promptly proceed with taking advantage of the situation and turning her against Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and the X-Men.
Details remain scarce, but we do know she'll be an alien shapeshifter of some kind. Jessica Chastain recently described her as "the devil on Jean's shoulder," which can't be good.
After unleashing the Phoenix in space, it looks like Jean (Sophie Turner) will make her way to Genosha and train under Magneto (Michael Fassbender) for, at least, a little while until all hell breaks loose.
Jean Grey begins to develop incredible powers that corrupt and turn her into a Dark Phoenix. Now the X-Men will have to decide if the life of a team member is worth more than all the people living in the world.
X-Men: Dark Phoenix features:
Director: Simon Kinberg
James McAvoy as Charles Xavier/Professor X
Michael Fassbender as Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto
Jennifer Lawrence as Raven Darkhölme/Mystique
Nicholas Hoult as Hank McCoy/Beast
Tye Sheridan as Scott Summers/Cyclops
Sophie Turner as Jean Grey/Dark Phoenix
Alexandra Shipp as Ororo Munroe/Storm
Kodi Smit-McPhee as Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler
Evan Peters as Peter Maximoff/Quicksilver
Olivia Munn as Elizabeth Braddock/Psylocke
Jessica Chastain in an undisclosed role
Daniel Cudmore in an undisclosed role
Lamar Johnson in an undisclosed role
X-Men: Dark Phoenix hits theaters June 7