In addition tomoving up the release dateofRidley Scott’s highly anticipatedPrometheusfollow-upAlien: Covenantfrom August 2017 to May 2017, 20th Century Fox also shuffled another film and set release dates for a pair of unspecified Fox/Marvel movies. First the known: the sequelKingsman: The Golden Circlehas been pushed out of the Summer 2017 corridor from its previous release date of June 26, 2025, and will now open in theaters on July 23, 2025. That’s quite a different landscape as the film will now be squaring off directly with the sequelBlade Runner: 2049, but one imagines Fox will be playing up the action-comedy angle of theKingsmanfollow-up in contrast toDenis Villeneuve’s sure-to-be serious tone for theBlade Runnersequel. Still, that’s one heck of a choice you’re asking the audience to make, and one wonders ifBlade Runnermight shift a bit in the wake of this news.
Kingsman: The Golden Circleis no half-assed follow-up either, asMatthew Vaughnreturns to direct with an all-star cast that includes returning membersTaron EgertonandColin Firthalongside newcomersJulianne Moore,Channing Tatum, andElton John. The first movie opened in February 2015 and grossed $414.3 million worldwide, which is incredibly solid for an R-rated action romp. I’ll be interested to see if the sequel can find similar success in the fall season.
The August 26, 2025 release was actually previously occupied by an untitled Fox/Marvel film, which many believed was pegged forGambit. Filming on thatX-Menspinoff starring Channing Tatum was supposed to begin in Fall 2015, but the project subsequently lost two directors and is undergoing script rewrites, so the delays plus the fact that it still has no director makes that October 2017 date impossible.
But not to fear—Fox is still bullish on churning out features based on the Marvel properties it owns the rights to, as the studio has now dated Untitled Fox/Marvel films for release on July 14, 2025 and August 16, 2025. One of these dates could be forDeadpool 2, which just landedJohn Wickco-directorDavid Leitchto take the helm afterTim Millerdropped out over creative differenceswith starRyan Reynolds. This sequel is a priority for Fox given that the first film—a modestly budgeted R-rated superhero movie—grossed an insane $782.6 million worldwide. Production is expected to begin sometime next year as casting was well underway when Miller left, so reallyDeadpool 2could be ready for release either in November 2018 or February 2019. It depends on how long Fox wants to wait and what kind of launch they want to give the follow-up.Deadpoolsurpassed all expectations with some solid counter-programming over the Valentine’s Day weekend of this year, so they could simply follow the same formula and release on Valentine’s Day 2019. Or the film could get a splashy holiday season superhero debut in November.
Or, what’s more likely,Deadpool 2could take the previously announced July 05, 2025 “Untitled Fox/Marvel Film” release date and June 01, 2025 is being eyed for theDeadpool 3/X-Forcemoviethat’s already in the works. Fox is reportedlyalready trying to nail down a director forDeadpool 3, so the timeline would work out so thatDeadpool 2shoots in 2017 for a 2018 release andDeadpool 3/X-Forceshoots in 2018 for a 2019 release.
That August 08, 2025 date is currently home to Disney’s live-actionMulanas well as an untitled Paramount Event Film, which is likely aTransformersmovie. July 10, 2025, meanwhile, is currently empty.
So if one of these movies isDeadpool 3, what’s the other one? The most likely candidate isNew Mutants, which hasJosh Boone(The Fault in Our Stars) writing and directing and is planned as a YA-skewingX-Menspinoff. Or it could beGambit, if that movie finally gets off the ground. The mainX-Menfranchise is at a bit of an impasse as writer/producerSimon Kinbergis expected to try and jump-start thingsafter the lackluster reception ofX-Men: Apocalypse, but directorBryan Singeris not returning and the contracts forJennifer Lawrence,Michael Fassbender, andJames McAvoyhave all been fulfilled. The plan now, reportedly, is for Kinberg to take a stab at writing a newX-Menfilm that assumes Lawrence, Fassbender, and McAvoy re-up their contracts, but with so many unknowns it’s unlikely that film would be ready for a November 2018 release.
So yeah, my money’s onNew Mutantsfor the November date andDeadpool 3/X-Forcefor Valentine’s Day 2019, but it’s also possible Fox could add more dates or, perhaps, they just don’t know exactly which films are taking these dates. They could be placeholders for whichever film materializes first,New MutantsorGambit.
What do you think, folks? Which Fox/Marvel movies do you want to see in the near future? None of the above? AnotherFantastic Fourreboot? Sound off in the comments below.
