Trepidation has surrounded Dark Phoenix nearly since it’s inception. Many fans cite the failure to adapt the story in X-Men: The Last Stand and the waning quality of the X-Men films as cause for concern. That sentiment doesn’t seem to be going away, according to a report from Looper.
TheDisInsider editor-in-chief Skyler Shuler recently took to Twitter after the most recent round of Dark Phoenix test screenings and things aren’t looking good. According to Shuler, this is now the third test screening he’s heard of that has garnered near-universal negative reactions.
Another X-Men: Dark Phoenix test screening, and guess what?
I now have talked to 6 people who all went to 3 different test screenings and all of them have told me the screenings were BAD. pic.twitter.com/HC8TT7XiRE
— Skyler Shuler (@Skylerhxc) January 23, 2019
Schuler previously weighed in on Dark Phoenix earlier this month after buzz surrounding the film signaled trouble:
Based on what i have heard, this movie cold be Fant4stic level BAD. https://t.co/L9P4u2Hasg
— Skyler Shuler (@Skylerhxc) January 2, 2019
Dark Phoenix has suffered from delays and reshoots for much of its production. It was originally slated for release last spring but poor test reactions forced the production into reshoots. Then, the film was meant to release on February 14the of this year but got moved again to June 7th. At this point, especially with the Disney merger looming large, the film probably won’t move again.
Fans are apparently reacting poorly to moments that were lifted directly from the much-maligned X-Men: The Last Stand. There is also a major character death scene that is eliciting more laughs than tears, causing the production to rework that scene.
Dark Phoenix stars Sophie Turner, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, and Jennifer Aniston. The film hits theaters on June 7th.
