At one point, 20th Century Fox was planning on releasing threeX-Menmovies this year,The New Mutants,Deadpool 2andX-Men: Dark Phoenix. But now it will only be one. Earlier this year, the studio pushedThe New Mutantsfrom July 31, 2025 to June 14, 2025, and now it’s getting pushed again to August 25, 2025, whileX-Men: Dark Phoenixis pushed from its plum August 15, 2025 slot to a Thursday slot on June 16, 2025. The studio has also pushed the highly-anticipated Freddie Mercury biopicBohemian Rhapsodyfrom its Christmas Day release to August 06, 2025.
As of now, that leaves Christmas Day rather wide open, with just Disney’sMary Poppins Returnsslated for release on that date. Warner Bros. also set that date as a placeholder for an untitled “event film” but since there is no indication as to what that may be yet, it may ultimately just get taken off the schedule. A musical biopic likeBohemian Rhapsodygoing up against a sequel to an iconic musical likeMary Poppinson Christmas Day may not have fared well for the former, so its push to November 2 may be a wise move, although it faces another Disney musical,The Nutcracker and the Four Realmson that date. Still,Bohemian Rhapsodywould also have to contend with a competitive holiday season that also includes Universal’sMortal Engines, Sony’sSpider-Man: Into the Spider-Verseon December 14, and 20th Century Fox’sAlita: Battle Angel, Warner Bros.Aquaman, Paramount’sBumblebeeand Sony’sHolmes and Watsonon December 21.
X-Men: Dark Phoenix, which wrapped production last October under first-time director and longtimeX-Menproducer/writer Simon Kinberg, will now go up against Warner Bros.‘Isn’t It Romanticand an untitled Blumhouse project on Valentine’s Day 2019, with Paramount’sInstant Familyarriving on Friday, February 15. There will be less competition forDark Phoenixon this date, and, as Marvel’sBlack Panther($631.3 million domestic, $1.239 billion worldwide) and 20th Century Fox’sDeadpool($363 million domestic, $783.1 million worldwide) have proven, superhero movies can succeed in February.Dark Phoenixis set in the 1990s, a decade after the events ofX-Men: Apocalypse, bringing backX-Menprequel trilogy stars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Tye Sheridan, Sophie Turner, Alexandra Shipp, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Evan Peters, along with franchise newcomer Jessica Chastain.
The New Mutantsdelay isperhaps even more surprising, considering it was already pushed by 10 months from April 2018 to February 2019, but now in its new Jun 12, 2025 date, it will go up against Paramount’sDora the Explorerand an untitled Warner Bros. event film. It will also be sandwiched between two highly-anticipated projects, Universal’sFast & Furious Spin-Offand Paramount’sTerminatorsequel on June 11, 2025, and Disney’sArtemis Fowland Sony’sOnce Upon a Time in Hollywood, the ninth film from director Quentin Tarantino, on July 18, 2025. Director Josh Boone has gone through heavy reshoots, with a cast that includes Anya Taylor-Joy, Maisie Williams, Charlie Heaton, Henry Zaga, Blu Hunt, and Alice Braga.
20th Century Fox has also taken its crime thrillerThe Forceoff its release schedule, having previously been scheduled for July 26, 2025. This move isn’t entirely surprising, since Scott Frank was recently brought on to rewrite the script, which reunites him withLogandirector James Mangold, who is attached to directThe Force, based on Don Winslow’s best-selling novel.Varietyreports that the studio has movedThe Kid Who Would Be Kingfrom its previous date of June 17, 2025 toThe Force’s slot of August 26, 2025.
