The New Mutants has hit yet another awkward stumbling block, even as it makes the final steps towards its continually delayed release. Although the film will finally be hitting theaters for real this time, several outlets have refused to attend review screenings, accusing Disney of failing to provide safe environments.
Disney has decided that the only way publications will be able to watch and review The New Mutants is to physically attend public screenings; a concerning prospect for those still wary of catching or spreading the Coronavirus. In response, some outlets, including The A.V. Club and The Boston Globe, have instead declared that they will not be reviewing the film until Disney provides safer viewing options than a normal theater setup.
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The A.V. Club in particular ran an essay from contributor A.A. Dowd, explaining the outlet’s rationale and how they reached the decision. Within, Dowd explained that for the time being, this policy would apply to all films equally: “We are, in fact, adopting the official policy of only reviewing films our writers can safely watch, whether in a socially distanced press screening or with a digital screener. And yes, that applies to all our writers, even those willing to take the risk for an assignment, because we’re not willing to monetize that risk, either.”
Brian Tallerico, a reviewer for RogerEbert.com, had a similar statement on twitter, stating “We also will not have a review of ‘The New Mutants’ because there’s no safe way to do so. We will review theatrical releases when presented with a safe way to do so – screener or socially distanced screening – but that’s not an option in this case.” The responses from critics seem to indicate that if The New Mutants sticks with this strategy, it will miss out on quite a few reviews from significant outlets.
It’s an interesting move from Disney, as Warner Bros. managed to host socially distant screening for Tenet, and it’s not unheard of for a movie to skip press screenings altogether, especially for smaller films like The New Mutants. While their motivations are unknown, it seems that unless Disney changes its plans, the film will suffer yet again. As the pandemic continues to be a concern, it would be in everyone’s best interests for Disney to reconsider this strategy.
The New Mutants releases in theaters August 28.
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Source: Indiewire