X-Men: Dark Phoenix looks set to lose over $100 million (£79m) after failing to impress fans and critics.

Released last week, the James McAvoy-starring film was slammed by early reviewers – resulting in a less than impressive 23% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

With Dark Phoenix subsequently receiving the lowest-ever box office opening in X-Men history, it has been reported that backers will be hit with an “estimated $100m-$120 million” loss.


Deadline claims that the movie cost over $350 million (£275m) to produce, including reshoots. However, the publication reports that Dark Phoenix‘s final box office total worldwide may only be around the $285 million (£224m) mark.

Meanwhile, Evans Peters recently discussed his sadness at his character Quicksilver’s relationship with Magneto remaining unresolved in the movie – adding that he hopes the storyline with his on-screen father is explored and resolved in future outings.

Writer and director Simon Kinberg spoke about the possible arc, explaining that “it was not part of the idea for this movie”.

“Part of what I felt is in the X-Men movies that maybe are not our strongest films is that we sometimes bite off more than we can chew in terms of the characters,” he said. “We service so many characters’ stories, that we lose, in some ways, the emotional through-line of the film.”

NME said in a two-star review that the movie is “a deeply disappointing end to the X-Men franchise”, while another critic slammed it as “excruciating, exhausting and with little reason to exist”.