Fox insiders point fingers after Dark Phoenix bombs at the box office

What went wrong with Dark Phoenix?

That's the question on everyone's mind after the latest and likely last installment in the main X-Men franchise took in just $33 million domestically in its opening weekend, giving it the worst showing of the series and putting it on a path toward losing more than $100 million, Deadline writes. This came after the film received the worst reviews of any X-Men installment.

Numerous factors were likely at play in Dark Phoenix's box office failure, insiders who spoke with The Hollywood Reporter suggested. For one, after 2016's X-Men: Apocalypse underperformed, Fox executives reportedly chalked this up to the film having an "excessive amount of explosions and scale, the Reporter writes.

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The result was a film that was intentionally smaller in scope, and one not thought of as being a summer blockbuster, an insider told the Reporter. But it was forced to compete in the summer anyway after being pushed from February to June, a decision sources told the Reporter was made because James Cameron was concerned Alita: Battle Angel would bomb in December due to heavy competition. So Fox gave Dark Phoenix's February date to Alita, moving the X-Men movie to June. The film being delayed twice gave it toxic buzz that Deadline notes the studio was unable to properly manage.

One source specifically pointed the finger at former 20th Century Fox CEO Stacey Snider, telling the Reporter that Fox's Emma Watts and others "begged her" not to delay the movie. Deadline also reports on the release date being blamed, while sources they spoke to also criticized the movie's marketing campaign.

Regardless of Dark Phoenix's performance, X-Men was already expected to be rebooted after Disney acquired the franchise in its Fox acquisition. But had this merger not happened, one former Fox executive told the Reporter, "some of these people would be worried about their jobs."