Contrary to reports, X-Men: Dark Phoenix is not going back in for an extensive round of reshoots, we at Collider can confirm. Earlier this year, the X-Men sequel was pulled off of its November 2018 release date and pushed to February 2019. After test screenings, it was determined the film needed some additional photography (as is routine when it comes to studio blockbusters), but owing to the busy schedules of the A-list cast, the production couldn’t assemble everyone in time to meet the November release date, so the date was pushed.
Now that the additional photography on Dark Phoenix is poised to take place later this year, Montreal outlet LaPresse reported that the film would be undergoing “three months” of photography, which would suggest extensive changes to longtime X-Men writer/producer Simon Kinberg’s directorial debut.
Sources close to the production of Dark Phoenix tell Collider that this report is erroneous. The film is indeed going back for additional photography in Montreal, but it’s only scheduled to last two and a half weeks. That’s a pretty standard amount of time for a major blockbuster, and is on par with the time spent on additional photography for Marvel Studios movies like Thor: Ragnarok and Black Panther.
Our sources tell us that the additional photography will involve some additional action in the film's third act, a couple of new scenes, and adding some shots for existing scenes. So no, contrary to rumors, this is not a major overhaul.
Kinberg wrote and directed Dark Phoenix, which serves as a follow-up to X-Men: Apocalypse but takes place a decade later in the 1990s. The story is under wraps aside from the obvious fact that it’s drawing from the iconic Dark Phoenix comics arc, which will find Sophie Turner’s Jean Grey taking center stage and Jessica Chastain playing a new key role.
It’s unclear which actors, exactly, are involved in the additional photography, but both Chastain and James McAvoy are currently in the midst of shooting IT Chapter Two and Turner only recently wrapped the final season of Game of Thrones, so those three actors playing major characters have been/are tied up for quite some time.
The necessary cast members will reassemble soon in Montreal for a couple weeks of additional photography, but no, they're not reshooting the entire film.
X-Men: Dark Phoenix hits theaters on February 14, 2019.
For more on the film:
- First ‘X-Men: Dark Phoenix’ Images Reveal Jessica Chastain and a New Look for Mystique
- First Promo Posters for ‘Dark Phoenix’, the ‘Jumanji’ Sequel and ‘Men in Black’ Arrive
- Evan Peters on ‘American Animals’ and Why ‘Dark Phoenix’ Is a “Powerful” X-Men Movie
- Upcoming Superhero Movie Release Dates: From 2018 to 2022
