The New Mutants is FINALLY hitting screens this weekend after years of delays. While some critics have weighed in on the film, most notably The Hollywood Reporter, a growing number of publications are refusing to have their critics review the film until safer screening options are made available.
The A.V. Club, The Boston Globe, and RogerEbert.com are among some of the sites who have stated they will not be reviewing The New Mutants ahead of its release. This has to do with the fact that Disney is not offering socially distanced press screenings in advance, nor are they sending out review links for the movie to be viewed at home. The only options available to these publications are to have a critic sent to a public screening which would put them out with crowds, albeit at a limited capacity, at chains like AMC, Regal, and Cinemark. Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com had this to say about the matter:
“We also will not have a review of ‘The New Mutants’ because there’s no safe way to do so. We will review theatrical releases when presented with a safe way to do so, screener or socially distanced screening, but that’s not an option in this case.”
A.A. Dowd of The A.V. Club was the first person to be vocal about the lack of safe viewing options to have a review of The New Mutants up and running. Disney hasn’t revealed why they aren’t offering socially distanced press screenings or review links for reviews, although with the latter they could be worried about leaks. Whatever the reason, Dowd didn’t mince words when it came to their stance at The A.V. Club:
“Science experts did not mince words: There’s a very good chance you could get sick. And that’s a risk the A.V. Club will not be taking to review a movie, any movie. We are, in fact, adopting the official policy of only reviewing films our writers can safely watch, whether in a socially distanced press screening or with a digital screener. And yes, that applies to all our writers, even those willing to take the risk for an assignment, because we’re not willing to monetize that risk, either.”
Although The New Mutants is being used as the example here, this could be an issue for any major release moving forward that doesn’t offer up safe viewing options for their films ahead of their release for critics. Some critics in the country are having trouble viewing Tenet ahead of its release and while a lot of reviews of the film have been posted, a lot of them are from overseas publications where Tenet rolled out earlier. It seems like seeing Tenet is far easier than seeing The New Mutants since there hasn’t been a ton of complaints about this issue until now but studios may want to look at what Disney is doing here and do what they can to get critics an option to review their films in the safest way possible. It’s not like Disney hasn’t sent out review links before. The Mouse House has been doing so for Disney+ releases so why not do it for The New Mutants? I guess these could save any studio from bad reviews being published but you also miss the boat on glowing reviews that may make reluctant moviegoers may willing to go see the film.
The New Mutants, directed by Josh Boone and starring Anya Taylor-Joy, Maisie Williams, Charlie Heaton, Alice Braga, Blu Hunt, and Henry Zaga, hits screens this weekend on August 28.
