DARK PHOENIX earns title for biggest box office disappointment of 2019.

Deadline reports that 20th Century Fox’s DARK PHOENIX was 2019’s biggest financial flop at the box office. The $200 million production directed by Simon Kinberg earned just $65.8 million in the United States, with a worldwide gross of $252.4 million. Considering most blockbusters have a marketing budget north of $100 million on top of production costs, the film cost the studio a $133 million lost. Ouch.

Fan opinions of the film are mixed – some really liked it, some felt “pretty meh” of it, and some simply hated it. It received a B- Cinemascore and terrifyingly low Rotten Tomatoes score at 23%. Unfortunately, the film had a lot going against it from the get-go, with Kinberg’s original 2-film storyline being whittled down to one film. Journalists and trades also unfairly criticized the film before seeing any footage and spreading false rumors about the production. Disney also acquired Fox after filming completed and fired the film’s original marketing team.

On the surface, it’s a very unfortunate ending to the mainline X-Men film franchise which began over 20 years ago. Personally, we’ve enjoyed everything this series had to offer and eagerly await director Josh Boone’s The New Mutants to close out Fox’s mutant legacy.

The next step for this franchise is under Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige with a very likely reboot introduction into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.