MovieChat Forums > X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019) Discussion > why did it bomb?

why did it bomb?

posted 5 years ago by bozo_500 (12523)
28 replies | jump to latest

-XM Apocalypse disappointed critically and with audiences (usually when that happens the next movie suffers at the box office - e.g. BvS-JL)

-Logan seemed to wrap everything up nicely (if that's the right word) closed the book on the Xmen. so this with the younger cast/no Wolverine (first time) and going back to the 90s seemed abit redundant (and didn't even seem necessary as theyd completed their trilogy – so 3 X trilogies - original cast / Wolverine / younger cast)

-average moviegoers who aren't crazy lap up everything superhero have already seen this story with the original cast back in 2006 or on DVD/blu/streaming/regular tv since and had little interest in seeing an even more poorly reviewed version with a younger cast/no Wolverine.

-Endgame made everything coming after seem 'small' in comparison to moviegoers even Godzilla and especially a similar 'Endgame' 4th team up/finale marvel superhero film (that dealt with a cosmic threat) that wasn't really necessary in the first place (ever since Avengers MCU has been slowly eating up Xmens audience culminating in the Endgame annihilation). the original Nov 18 or Feb 19 release dates would've at least avoided coming after EG (but then XM has always been summer) actually this summer is turning out abit like 2016 everything aside Avengers underperformed (Xmen, Star Trek, turtles, ID2, GB, Tarzan, Alice2)

-oversaturation of superheroes. in past 3-4 months audiences have had Cap Marvel/Endgame/Shazam/Hellboy.and now an unappealing looking Xmen...so obviously some are going to get lost in the deluge esp after the one two punch of MCUs CM/EG...now audiences probably just waiting until Spiderman HC 2 for another MCU fix

-think moviegoers still consider the original cast the 'proper' XMen and these younger versions as like the pretend fakey ones (abit like JJs Star Trek although at least with Trek they had to recast if they wanted to use the original characters) and especially coming after the subpar Apocalypse (which was boosted by the near Avengers level event of DOFP featuring both casts - which made it pretty much 'XMen 4' with the original cast)

-the Disney/MCU takeover. MCU is now all powerful and everything is in its shade and its made the Fox XMen seem like its now redundant (although maybe only the geeks would be aware of that.. but then again everyone abit of a geek now/knows about MCU and is aware of that behind the scenes rights stuff) - actually could this be the 1st time ever that a franchise film series has had a reboot announced before/during the current films release?

-The Bryan Singer connection - ever since the BS allegations its cast abit of a cloud over the X universe he created (although it didn't do Boh Rhap any harm lol)

-The bad reviews/low RT score (especially coming after the critically acclaimed all powerful Endgame)

-dull/'seen it all before done better' looking trailers

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Uninspiring trailers, bad reviews, bad word of mouth, and a subpar movie all add up to it being a major disappointment.

[–] TMC-4 (19550) 5 years ago

The write-up has posted for Dark Phoenix! We are halfway through the year and it will take a near record breaking flop to dethrone this as the box office disaster of 2019.

https://twitter.com/bombreport/status/1141132466671013888

https://bombreport.com/yearly-breakdowns/2019-2/dark-phoenix/

Buzz was muted on Dark Phoenix as the release approached and instead of a whirlwind of hype surrounding the final installment, the public seemed more interested in the prospect of the X-Men joining the MCU. After the Disney/FOX merger was completed in March 2019, the X-Men‘s new home was at the Mouse House — but Dark Phoenix was hardly being groomed for success by a revolving door of executives and the mismanagement that comes with these conglomerate mergers. It borders on the obscene that nearly $350M can be pumped into a product and its advertising and be treated as disposable. Even with the lack of fandom enthusiasm, nothing indicated that the picture was headed for such a disastrous box office performance.

Dark Phoenix was tracking for a $50M domestic weekend and a $170M global haul. It bowed against The Secret Life of Pets 2 and there would be some family audience overlap between the two films. Dark Phoenix was also opening into a market that was super saturated with family friendly tentpole fare and was opening after an endless parade of superhero movies. Aladdin, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Avengers: Endgame and Pokemon Detective Pikachu were all in wide release and still pulling in auds.

[–] bozo_500 (12523) 5 years ago

read somewhere that calling it just 'Dark Phoenix' may have made audiences think it was just another XMen spin off not a genuine XMen movie or the finale of the Xmen saga (and since it wasn't about Wolverine or Deadpool passed on it )

[–] looper007 (1151) 5 years ago

I think it could be superhero burnout after Avenger's: Endgame and how big and awesome that was, anything been released after that was bound to be a comedown. You could say Wolverine or Deadpool, two of X-Men world's biggest character's in today's world weren't in it. I think the slight disappointment of Apocalypse probably took the wind of the great work done by First Class and Days of Future Past. They were following two great X-Men films in the underrated Deadpool 2 and the masterpiece that was Logan, so it needed to be great and the reviews weren't. Focusing on the least interesting characters in the cast maybe didn't help also.

It's a shame the 2nd generation cast went out on such a damp squid of a film, i thought Michael Fassbender was a great Magneto, and his turn in First Class was the best acting in these run of films. Mcavoy was a great Professor X. Nicholas Hoult was very good as Beast. I think the casting of Jennifer Lawrence was probably a bit of a stumbling block to the franchise, the fact when they cast her she wasn't the big name she became and the following films had to put her front and center. Not her fault to be fair. But she didn't help that greatly with the box office. I stand by that First Class is one of the more underrated superhero films, and Days of Future Past one of the best. After that it went meh for me.