Posted in: Fox, Movies | Tagged: alice braga, Anya Taylor-Joy, Blu Hunt, charlie heaton, disney, fox, henry zaga, maisie williams, new mutants, x-men

The New Mutants is a Sleeper Hit as it Hits Top of On Demand Services

The long-delayed The New Mutants is showing everyone its true nature as it hits the top of both Vudu and FandangoNOW's lists of the most profitable films for the past week. Buoyed by strong word of mouth (or perhaps morbid curiosity?), and despite middling reviews, the scrappy young mutants seem to be clawing to the top of the heap.

You may have missed that Disney, who acquired The New Mutants in their acquisition of Fox, plopped it unceremoniously into the normally unforgiving late August box office and also in the midst of an uncontrolled pandemic. It came and went, earning $23 million in the US box office and $45 worldwide. This would normally be a dismal failure, but in the chaos of 2020 manages to squeak into the top 25 US releases of the year.

The film, which stars Anya Taylor-Joy, Maisie Williams, Charlie Heaton, Alice Braga, Blu Hunt, and Henry Zaga as the eponymous New Mutants, was released on streaming on November 17 and has become a somewhat surprise hit. Based on the X-Men-adjacent comics of the same name, it saw our young mutants being held at a secret facility and having to discover their powers in order to fight their way out. Part horror movie, part X-Men crossover, but apparently audiences are curious enough (or bored enough) to check it out.

Here's how it broke down:

Vudu's top ten titles for the past week (Monday through Sunday), in terms of revenue:

1. The New Mutants
2. Unhinged
3. Come Play
4. Mulan
5. The Informer
6. Iron Mask
7. Love and Monsters
8. Jiu Jitsu
9. Chick Fight
10. Elf

FandangoNOW's top ten titles for the past week (Monday through Sunday), in terms of revenue:

1. The New Mutants
2. Unhinged
3. Come Play
4. The Informer
5. Mulan
6. Iron Mask
7. Chick Fight
8. Love and Monsters
9. Jiu Jitsu
10. Dreamland

It's a strong showing for The New Mutants, who likely won't see much competition in the streaming market for several weeks. Given that Mulan still sits in the top 5 of these rankings, it would also seem it's in Disney's interests to promote the film further, perhaps spinning what was seen as a flop into a redoubtable, scrappy film now embraced by a fandom who finally can connect to it.

We'll see if The New Mutants can stay on top.

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