It’s been a long road to the screen for The New Mutants, the final installment of the X-Men franchise produced by the former 20th Century Fox film studio (now known as 20th Century Studios). Intended to offer a horror spin on the franchise, The New Mutants is still targeting a (currently theoretical) August 28 premiere in theaters following various delays, reshoots, and an ongoing pandemic that has closed most of the theaters in the U.S.
Nevertheless, a new trailer for The New Mutants suggests that the long-delayed film will arrive in theaters in just over a month, preceded by a promotional stopover for a Comic-Con At Home virtual event on July 23.
Directed by Josh Boone from a screenplay he co-wrote with Knate Lee, The New Mutants follows a group of young mutants who come to believe that the hospital they think they’re living in might be something far more sinister. When they discover the truth, they must team up to escape the facility using their powerful abilities.
The film casts Game of Thrones actress Maisie Williams as Rahne Sinclair, a Scottish mutant with the ability to transform into a wolf-like creature; The Witch actress Anya Taylor-Joy as Illyana Rasputin, a Russian mutant with teleportation powers and other abilities; Stranger Things actor Charlie Heaton as Sam Guthrie, a powerful American mutant with explosive abilities; Blu Hunt as Danielle Moonstar, a Native American mutant with the power to manifest people’s greatest fears; and Henry Zaga as Roberto da Costa, a Brazilian mutant with the ability to manipulate solar energy.
Additionally, Alice Braga plays Cecilia Reyes, a mutant doctor at the facility who has the ability to generate a protective field around herself. Antonio Banderas is also rumored to be playing a cameo role in the film.
In March, just before the coronavirus pandemic shut down U.S. theaters, Disney and 20th Century Studios released another trailer for the film.
Filming for The New Mutants took place in Boston throughout 2017, with the film initially scheduled to hit theaters in April 2018. That date was pushed back as script problems and reshoots reportedly put the film’s release in limbo, only to have the acquisition of 20th Century Fox by The Walt Disney Company further complicate the movie’s premiere. The latest trailer for The New Mutants features the new, redesigned 20th Century Studios logo, which encompasses past and future studio films.
An earlier trailer for the film was released in January — the first preview since the studio was acquired by Disney. The New Mutants is currently scheduled to be released on August 28 in U.S. theaters if they’re open at that point, but that plan seems increasingly unlikely as the pandemic continues to surge in many states.
Updated on July 17, 2020: Added new trailer.