Simon Kinberg Accepts Blame for Failure of Dark Phoenix, Says He’s Excited to See What Marvel Does With the X-Men

Speaking to KCRW’s The Business (h/t Entertainment Weekly), Dark Phoenix writer-director Simon Kinberg spoke on the film’s abysmal failure with the critics and at the box office. Kinberg accepted blame for the movie’s failure, saying that it’s on him.

The interview was held a few days after the film’s opening weekend, and Kinberg commented on enjoying the process of making the film. He stated, “I actually really like the movie, [and] I had an amazing time making the movie.”

Additionally, he acknowledged the film’s failure. He added, “I’m here, I’m saying when a movie doesn’t work, put it on me. I’m the writer-director, the movie didn’t connect with audiences, that’s on me.”

Regarding the movie’s constant delays in release dates and marketing changes possibly hurting the movie, he continued: “I mean honestly, there’s no way to know. And that’s the thing that I think can drive people crazy and keep them up and be thinking about a movie’s failure years later. If the lesson you’ve learned is that you had the wrong date or you didn’t have good marketing–that’s not a lesson.”

Regarding the future of the X-Men film franchise and characters, which are now controlled by Walt Disney Studios and Marvel Studios after Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox, Kinberg said, “I love these characters. I’ll be super excited to see what Marvel does with them.”

Dark Phoenix marked the directorial debut for Simon Kinberg. He previously wrote the 2006 movie featuring the Dark Phoenix storyline, X-Men 3: The Last Stand, and he co-wrote and produced 2015’s Fantastic Four.

As for what Marvel’s plans are for the Merry Band of Mutants, they are still completely unknown. Based on some of the recent statements made by Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige, it seems like fans might be waiting for the official MCU versions of the X-Men for quite some time.