Fox Release Date Shuffle: Rumored ‘Deadpool 2’ PG-13 Version Takes ‘Alita: Battle Angel’ Christmas Slot
Turns out, there are still surprises to be found on this year’s movie release calendar. Just hours after Annapurna finally dated their long-gestating Dick Cheney film, “Vice,” Fox has gone ahead and a slew of changes on their own calendar. The new dates, as reported by Deadline and already reflected on BoxOfficeMojo’s listings, include not just the pushing back of no less than three films, but the unexpected announcement of a brand-new entry into their burgeoning “Deadpool” franchise. Well, sort of.
Deadline reports that “Alita: Battle Angel,” long set for a December 21 release, will now arrive on February 14, 2019. With that spot wide open on the calendar, Fox has slotted in a “untitled” “Deapool” film that is believed to be a “PG-13 version” of this summer’s “Deadpool 2.” Adding fuel to the fire of “wait, what is this?,” star Ryan Reynolds tweeted a picture of himself in costume as the wacky superhero, complete with a jaunty Santa hat. Next to him: adult Fred Savage, apparently returning to the sick bed he occupied during “The Princess Bride.”
Thoughts? ⚔️ pic.twitter.com/fFe93tDI7e
— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) September 28, 2018
So, an edited down “Deadpool 2,” framed up as a storytelling endeavor that casts Deadpool himself as Peter Falk and Savage as his young self? Considering “Deadpool 2” made over $730 million at the global box office when it was saddled with an R-rating, we can only imagine the money a dialed-down version will pull in.
Elsewhere, the X-Men feature “Dark Phoenix,” just days after finally releasing its first trailer, will move from February 14, 2019 to June 7, 2019. As Deadline notes, “the trailer launched this week earning close to 8M YouTube views on Fox’s channel. Summer is not only a better date, … it gives the film a better shot to have a bigger opening in China. Why? The trailer clocked 44 million views in first 24 hrs of release online this week out of China.”
Finally, the studio has also moved its long-gestating “Gambit” film from June 7, 2019 to March 13, 2020. The film is “still in development with no director yet and Channing Tatum still attached. Reid Carolin and Joshua Zetumer were working on the script.”
