Dark Phoenix trended on Twitter over the weekend for all the wrong reasons

March 23rd 2020, 11:27am

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Poor DARK PHOENIX. The X-MEN film that was kicked while it was down by critics and became one of the biggest box office flops of 2019, is getting a new round of shame thanks to a new wave of viewership courtesy of its debut on HBO streaming services over the weekend. If you checked out Twitter on Saturday you might've seen that DARK PHOENIX was trending and it definitely wasn't because it was suddenly discovered as a cinematic masterpiece.

Twitter had quite a fun time doing to DARK PHOENIX what most did to it last June when the film was released theatrically. To be fair, there are some positive Twitter notices but it's mixed in with a heap of negative comments. DARK PHOENIX is one of those films that just can't catch a break. Simon Kinberg's directorial debut only ended up making $252.4 million at the box office against a reported production budget of $200 million. Given that most say a movie needs to at least make twice its production budget to break even to account for the advertising and publicity, it's plausible that DARK PHOENIX lost about $150 million. Throw in that 23% rotten score on Rotten Tomatoes and you have yourself one hell of a stinker.

To be fair, I don't think the film is great but it's not nearly as bad as it's made out to be. There are some cool scenes (love the Jean Grey/Magneto standoff late into the film) and it's cool they let Tye Sheridan's Cyclops drop the only F-bomb in a PG-13 movie because Cyclops never gets to do anything cool in these movies. This saga is definitely deserving of two films to tell the story as it should be told so what we got was a rushed endeavor but considering they had to reshoot most of the last act, it turned out much better than it had any right to be.

DARK PHOENIX, which also stars James McAvoy, Sophie Turner, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Jessica Chastain & Sophie Turner, is now streaming on HBO. Do YOU think the film is as bad as they say it is? Check out the weekend Twitter reactions below:

I watched Dark Phoenix tonight. It was bad. The best part was when my dog perked up at the dog barking in the beginning, then he barked at the TV for 5 mins demanding to know what happens to that dog.

— Jared Jesulaitis (@JaredOn1017) March 22, 2020

Currently watching X-Men: Dark Phoenix and I just want to let it be known that I love Sophie Turner and #GameOfThrones is one of the top 10 tv shows of all time. Thanks.

— Juice (@thewittyafro) March 22, 2020

Dark Phoenix is trending. Still havenâ??t seen it. #DarkPhoenix pic.twitter.com/KoFqMt8bqh

— Everette Mathews (@EJ_Mathews) March 22, 2020

Dark Phoenix sucked, but this scene didn't(Michael Fassbender as Magneto is the ð?): pic.twitter.com/pWXtfTRkrc

— Joseph (@BuckeyevsTworld) March 22, 2020

Dark Phoenix still has one of the best marvel movie scenes in history regardless if you like it or not pic.twitter.com/6SoPAIqk8O

— Cootaman (@bigworm215) March 22, 2020

X-men Dark Phoenix is trending and I'm thinking to myself pic.twitter.com/vlCq3CrHXD

— 1funnymofo (@DJ_Mission) March 22, 2020

I was thinking #DarkPhoenix wasnâ??t so bad, but then, things went left, and I didnâ??t recognize the X-Men any more….

— Mister Raven (@StatueGeek) March 23, 2020

#DarkPhoenix I hear people defending this film because it reaches the bare minimum, existence. After so many #FoXMen films they still are wasting time and talent when they focus on the same 3 characters every time! Lol 3/10

— Langley M(y Lifes A Giant Self Quarantine) Neely (@LangleyMNeely) March 23, 2020

Dark Phoenix is trending because apparently, people finally saw it. I've seen it once since June. It's..meh. There's some things I like, some I don't like, and one thing I HATE. Seen way worse, though. Hell, it isn't even the worst X-Men film. It's just…very meh. #DarkPhoenix pic.twitter.com/oyVw731sNl

— Shaurya Chawla (@_ShauryaChawla) March 23, 2020

#DarkPhoenix is so bad ("How bad is it!?") — even when Nightcrawler, Storm, and Magneto are FINALLY doing cool things in a big fight sequence, it's still terrible. https://t.co/IJ8s0TjN7J

— The Reality: the greatest comix you're not reading (@TheRealityComix) March 23, 2020

Im glad I waited for Dark Phoenix to cone out on HBO. The unfortunate thing is that I lost 2 hours of my life that'll I'll never get back. #DarkPhoenix #DarkPhoenixsucks

— John Sno (@JohnnyGans) March 23, 2020