New Mutants Movie Will Be A 'Fully-Fledged Horror Film'
Fox’s Mutants will be unlike any other X-Men movie.
The long-awaited spin-off to the X-Men movie, which will be directed by The Fault in Our Stars Josh Boone, has remained in development for years with only a few small updates to keep fans satiated.
However, with production on the film expected to begin later this summer, more and more details and reports from inside the New Mutants camp have begun to surface as a result. Following the recent confirmation of Anya Taylor-Joy, who will play Magik, and Maisie Williams, who’ll be playing Wolfsbane, as two of the film’s lead cast members, Boone has now spoken to Entertainment Weekly about the tone of the new film, with Stephen King and John Hughes the two touchstones for what we can expect.
“We are making a full-fledged horror movie set within the X-Men universe,” Boone said. “There are no costumes. There are no supervillains. We’re trying to do something very, very different.”
However, Boone has moved to reassure fans that he isn’t about to drop the ball on what he describes as his dream project:
“You can’t have a bigger nerd or fan making this. It’s so important to me. I’m not the 12-year-old who decided to write Stephen King a letter and loved Marvel Comics anymore, but I try to hold myself accountable to that kid. Because that kid is what keeps me from becoming a Hollywood whore. I look back and think: Would he think this would be cool? Would he proud of me? Did I fulfill the dream we had when we were kids?”
This description of a darker, horror-infused take on the New Mutants is very familiar to the vision of artist Bill Sienkiewicz — whom Boone calls “one of the most amazing comic book artists ever” — came aboard for No. 18 of New Mutants, the series created by Chris Claremont in the early ’80s, who adopted a darker, more surrealistic style.
While Boone kept details of the plot quiet one source was quoted as saying the plot will focus on the destructive and self-destructive tendencies of our heroes, a synopsis reads:
“Held in a secret facility against their will, five new mutants have to battle the dangers of their powers, as well as the sins of their past. They aren’t out to save the world — they’re just trying to save themselves.”
New Mutants is set to go into production in July.
