Simon Kinberg thinks ‘Dark Phoenix’ was undermined by its release date being moved around.
The 45-year-old filmmaker helmed the new, much-maligned superhero movie, and has suggested that uncertainty over its release date damaged its box-office performance.
Speaking to KCRW’s ‘The Business’ podcast, Simon – whose film arrived shortly after the release of ‘Avengers: Endgame’ – explained: "I always felt that we had a tough date for this particular movie.
"It wasn’t made as a classic superhero movie, it was made as more of a dramatic, intimate, smaller film.
"Originally it was going to come out in November, then it was going to come out in February, and those were the date that I felt like it actually would have felt more appropriate to.
"And think also coming out five, six weeks after what may well be the biggest movie or the second biggest movie in the history of cinema, that also happens to be also in the genre of superheroes, was tough for us, and I always anticipated that it was going to be tough to be in the tailwinds of that movie. But I wouldn’t blame it on the weekend."
Simon also claimed the film could’ve been finished in time for a February release.
He said: "If we had accelerated certain things in that movie, it perhaps would have been ready by that date."
Simon Kinberg bemoans Dark Phoenix’s release date
