The New Mutants director has taken somewhat of a dig at Dark Phoenix after the latter proved less than successful critically and commercially.

Dark Phoenix became the lowest-grossing X-Men movie ever when it was released last year, and currently stands at 23% on Rotten Tomatoes (even with a 64% audience score).

The New Mutants director Josh Boone was asked by Empire whether there was extra pressure to perform after last year's X-Men outing flopped.

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X: Men Dark Phoenix trailer
20th Century Studios

Himself referring to the movie as "one of the worst-reviewed movies of last year", Boone added: "Look, you can only go up after Dark Phoenix. That's not to say anything bad about the people involved, but it was what it was.

"Honestly, I feel less pressure now than I did ahead of [the first slated release date]. Because we've tested our movie so many times, and audiences have loved it."

Meanwhile, the new X-Men movie has been delayed once again due to the coronavirus, with Disney saying the decision was "out of an abundance of caution".

It was finally scheduled for release next month, this being the latest setback for the movie, which was originally meant to hit screens back in 2018.

social group, photograph, black, people, standing, fun, snapshot, darkness, youth, fashion,
20th Century Studios

Meanwhile, Boone recently revealed his original plans for a New Mutants sequel, explaining: "We had always planned to have a tag at the end of the movie that introduced the villain for the next movie.

"We even had an actor cast, but because of the merger and because Marvel owns X-Men now and is going to do their own thing, there was no reason to go shoot it."

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20th Century Fox/Marvel X-Men Collection [Blu-ray]
Credit: Marvel
Marvel's The New Mutants DVD [2020]
Disney Marvel's The New Mutants DVD [2020]
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Funko Marvel Dark Phoenix Pop! Vinyl Figure
Credit: Funko
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20th Century Fox/Marvel Logan [streaming]
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Credit: Marvel
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20th Century Fox/Marvel Deadpool Double Pack [Blu-ray]
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Marvel Comics X-Men: The Dark Phoenix Saga [Uncanny X-Men (1963-2011)]
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20th Century Fox/Marvel X-Men: Days of Future Past - The Rogue Cut [streaming]
Credit: Marvel

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Sam is a freelance reporter and sub-editor who has a particular interest in movies, TV and music. After completing a journalism Masters at City University, London, Sam joined Digital Spy as a reporter, and has also freelanced for publications such as NME and Screen International.  Sam, who also has a degree in Film, can wax lyrical about everything from Lord of the Rings to Love Is Blind, and is equally in his element crossing every 't' and dotting every 'i' as a sub-editor.