Wait, Is The New Mutants Gearing Up For A Digital Release?

The team in The New Mutants

Before cinematic universes were commonplace, the X-Men franchise was bringing Marvel comic stories to life on the big screen. The franchise's main story ended when Dark Phoenix hit theaters, but there is one more mutant story that we've been waiting to see in theaters: Josh Boone's The New Mutants. The horror-inspired blockbuster has been delayed a number of times since its filming back in 2017, most recently due to theaters closing ahead of its planned release in March. Moviegoers have been anxious awaiting an update on the movie's upcoming release, and now it looks like The New Mutants might be gearing up for a Video on Demand release.

The New Mutants was one of the many movies to be pulled from its planned theatrical release, as movie theaters as a result of global health concerns. Fans have been wondering for years whether or not it might end up on streaming, depending on what made the most sense for Disney following its acquisition of 20th Century Fox and its properties. But surprisingly, the movie is seemingly available for pre-order on Amazon prime video.

At the point of writing, The New Mutants is currently listed for pre-order on Amazon for the price of $25.99. There's no release date listed, but this would seemingly be an indication that the movie would be heading to people's homes, rather than having a full theatrical release. In this case is would likely be available via video on demand, like Universal did with Trolls World Tour. Although right now the studio has made no official announcement regarding the future of Josh Boone's upcoming superhero flick.

If The New Mutants ends up going directly to homes through video on demand, it would be interesting to see how that decision ripples across the movie industry. There's an ongoing conflict between certain studios and theater owners regarding movies going directly to video on demand instead of their planned theatrical release. While most big blockbusters have been delayed a number of months in response to theaters closing, there have been a few exceptions along the way, most notably Trolls World Tour.

The price point currently listed of $25.99 might seem steep for a rental, but I assume this price is for digitally buying a copy of The New Mutants. Similar prices were seen when Birds of Prey arrived in homes early, before it was dropped and made available for rental. And considering that The New Mutants was a bonafide blockbuster with a presumably with a hefty budget. So if a theatrical run isn't possible, money needs to be made in other ways.

After being delayed a number of times over the years, The New Mutants finally got a new release date for March. Prior to that, many fans wondered if it could end up getting released on Disney+, since the House of Mouse had the control over the movie's distribution. Theaters closing was yet another obstacle in the way of Josh Boone's movie finally becoming available after all the years. So it would be exciting if the movie were to arrive via video on demand.

You can check out the latest trailer for The New Mutants below.

The New Mutants had a ton of buzz around it when the movie's first spooky trailer arrived years ago. With a fierce cast of young stars and a new take on the X-Men franchise, moviegoers were eager to see what the long gestating movie had to offer. Unfortunately, it was delayed countless times and reshoots never happened. But Josh Boone got to finish his movie as planned, although now it seems it might skip the theaters altogether. We'll have to see how the story progresses.

CinemaBlend will keep you updated on the latest news regarding The New Mutants as it becomes public. In the meantime, check out our 2020 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

Corey Chichizola
Movies Editor

Corey was born and raised in New Jersey. Graduated with degrees theater and literature from Ramapo College of New Jersey. After working in administrative theater for a year in New York, he started as the Weekend Editor at CinemaBlend. He's since been able to work himself up to reviews, phoners, and press junkets-- and is now able to appear on camera with some of his favorite actors... just not as he would have predicted as a kid. He's particularly proud of covering horror franchises like Scream and Halloween, as well as movie musicals like West Side Story. Favorite interviews include Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, Jamie Lee Curtis, and more.