'New Mutants' bombs at the box office

X-Men spin-off The New Mutants has topped off a turbulent journey to the screen with a poor show at the box office.

Per figures from Forbes, the Josh Boone-directed movie, which stars Game of Thrones' alumnus Maisie Williams, limped in with a debut weekend of just $7 million in the US, and only $2.9 million more worldwide.

Even considering the diminished numbers of cinemas open due to the continuing coronavirus restrictions in place, it's still a low number, particularly considering the mitigation that it’s among just a handful of new movies now back in cinemas.

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It perhaps did not help that the movie has not been received well by critics, and while it barely avoided the universal panning many expected, most critics were simply underwhelmed.

“Re-shot, re-cut and somehow rescued from total obscurity, Boone's movie isn't half bad. Alas, it's not half good either,” wrote Variety.

“The movie that's made its way to theaters is mildly engaging but mostly inert, a wan sizzle reel for an idea rather than the idea made manifest,” added Vanity Fair.

But the movie has faced an uphill struggle since it was shot, way back in 2017.

Half horror, half teen superhero actioner, it centres on a group of young mutants being held at a secret facility, with The Fault In Our Stars director Boone also co-writing the screenplay.

The film required reshoots, with rumours that the Fox studio wanted the whole movie to be scrapped, before repeatedly bumping it back down its schedule.

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The movie then got swallowed up by the acquisition of the Fox studio by Disney in 2019, with its new owners reportedly saying that it believed it had 'limited box office potential'.

Boone eventually finished cutting the film, without the reshoots, in March this year.

Williams, meanwhile, has seen the funny side, reposting Forbes's excoriating review, which described the film as 'the worst X-Men movie ever'.

“Sounds like a must see!” she tweeted. “Get your tickets now.”