The final trailer for Dark Phoenix was released yesterday, the apparent conclusion to this era of X-Men movies before it (likely) gets booted. Sarah has written previously about the franchise’s decline and that other trailers for this movie haven’t look great. That’s actually an understatement. You know what I keep thinking about while watching this trailer though? Timing.
Dark Phoenix was supposed to be out last November. Then they pushed it to February 2019 and now it’s coming out in June. June is blockbuster season. The movie might look terrible but they’re hoping for some kind of box office take – and they also might be hoping that part of that kick will come from Game of Thrones hype.
Sansa Stark is a major player in Westeros now. The final episode of Game of Thrones is May 19, three weeks before Dark Phoenix. Dark Phoenix is Sophie Turner’s story. So…I mean… depending on what happens and who ends up on the Iron Throne, Phoenix could get a bump from the GoT hysteria. You want your lead character front and center and recognisable and being talked about – even better if you’re not paying for it. We’re going to be talking about the Starks and the Lannisters and the Targaryens from 1045pm on May 19 non-stop for days, no matter what happens, but if what happens involves a Sansa Stark surge in a major way, can Dark Phoenix build off of that momentum? And did the studio choose the new release date knowing that…and more? Is the Dark Phoenix release date actually a clue about Game of Thrones? This is a stretch, I know. But everything is a f-cking stretch right now. We’ve been stretching for months waiting for this goddamn show to come back. Reddit has been stretching every possible theory for years. As you know, I’m big on Sansa. Sansa prevailing would be a satisfying conclusion for me. So let me have this. Dark Phoenix is trying to tell us something about Sansa Stark, OK?
Attached - Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas together in LA on the weekend.
