And it looks like director Simon Kinberg blames himself for the film’s lack of success. Going on KCRW’s The Business podcast, Kinberg mentioned that the blame should rest on his shoulders.
However, Kinberg did also point towards the film’s poor release date and that the more “intimate” Dark Phoenix would’ve performed better outside of the packed summer period. While it’s debatable whether Dark Phoenix is actually a “smaller” film (it’s certainly smaller than Endgame and Godzilla: King of the Monsters), there’s no denying that it could’ve benefited from either a January/February or October/November release date. The summer is a crowded season and the final chapter of Fox’s X-Men saga was sandwiched right in between Aladdin, Godzilla, Men in Black: International and Toy Story 4. Dark Phoenix had no chance of surviving this box office Royal Rumble.
