X-MEN
DARK PHOENIX

A SECOND ATTEMPT AT THE SAGA

HOW DARK PHOENIX REACHED THE SCREEN

X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) adapted the comics’ Dark Phoenix Saga as one of several storylines, and Kinberg and Zak Penn later said they were unhappy with the result. Kinberg began writing a new version in late 2016 and signed on to direct in June 2017, in what was his debut as a director. Principal photography began on 28 June 2017 in Montreal under the working title Teen Spirit and wrapped on 14 October 2017.

The release moved from 2 November 2018 to 14 February 2019 to allow reshoots, which began by 31 August 2018 and rebuilt the third act, and then to 7 June 2019. The budget was $200 million, and Hans Zimmer composed the score.

A STORY ABOUT ONE CHARACTER

WHY KINBERG CENTRED THE FILM ON JEAN

Kinberg said in May 2019 that he “really wanted to focus on Jean’s dilemma, her personal struggle and the demons she’s trying to exorcise.” Earlier, in February 2019, he described the story as being about “Jean cracking up, losing control because she’s more powerful than anyone else in the world.”

On the series, he called the film a culmination:

“It’s definitely the culmination and the climax of 10 years of storytelling since First Class.”

Simon Kinberg, 29 May 2019

Asked about Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, he said the film is set in 1992 while Logan takes place “30 or 40 years later.”

THE FIRST-CLASS CAST RETURNS

WHO IS IN THE CAST

James McAvoy plays Charles Xavier, with Michael Fassbender as Magneto, Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique, Nicholas Hoult as Beast, Sophie Turner as Jean Grey, Tye Sheridan as Cyclops, Alexandra Shipp as Storm, Evan Peters as Quicksilver, Kodi Smit-McPhee as Nightcrawler and Jessica Chastain.

A LOW OPENING FOR THE SERIES

HOW THE FILM OPENED AND WHAT IT EARNED

The film premiered at the TCL Chinese Theatre on 4 June 2019 and opened in the US on 7 June. It took $32,828,348 on its US opening weekend from 3,721 theatres, behind The Secret Life of Pets 2. That was the lowest opening in the X-Men series, about $20 million below the previous low.

It earned $252.4 million worldwide, of which $65.8 million came from the US. Deadline estimated that the film lost about $133 million.

THE REWATCH

A 22% CRITICS SCORE AND THE END OF AN ERA

Rotten Tomatoes lists a 22% critics’ score from 383 reviews and a 64% audience score, and its consensus says the film ends an era of the series “with deeply disappointing results.” Metacritic gives it 43 from 52 critics. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave it a B-, and it received two Razzie nominations.

In the Marvel Marathon it sits in the Marvel movies in release order guide between Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home, and in the X-Men movies in order guide between The Gifted Season 2 and Legion Season 3. It is not in the MCU guides.