Why has Deadpool 2's release date changed? Here's the reason behind X-Men movie release date shuffle

While it was known that Hollywood's summer releases are going to set the box office on fire, the new updates from the X-Men camp prove that the month of May, in particular, is about to drive film analysts, fans and ticket counters crazy.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the X-Men franchise has changed the release dates of a few of its upcoming projects. As per the original schedule, The New Mutants was supposed to set the ball rolling for the franchise this year. However, the franchise is now banking on Deadpool 2 to start a successful run at the box office.

Also read: Hollywood movies releasing in 2018

Instead of June, THR reveals that the R-Rated movie's release date has been advanced by two weeks. Fans will now watch Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool sequel on May 18. The film is scheduled to release two weeks after the most anticipated movie of the year — Avengers: Infinity War — and a week before Lucasfilm's Han Solo movie, Solo: A Star Wars Story.

While Deadpool 2 has been advanced, the studio has pushed The New Mutants back by 10 months. The movie will now release in February 2019. The move is a little shocking considering Josh Boone released a spine-chilling trailer in October last year. The release date of X-Men: Dark Phoenix is unchanged.

But why: Insiders explain that the studio changed the release dates in order to avoid an overlap of X-Men movies in a few international markets. While the two movies were releasing two months apart in the US, Deadpool 2 and Mutants would have been in theatres at the same time in a couple of global markets.

Wasn't Gambit planned for a February 2019 release? Yes, but it is no longer a February 2019 release. The studio has reportedly moved Gambit to June 2019 now.

The news about the changed date came a few hours after Deadline reported that the movie lost Gore Verbinski as the director of the project.

The site revealed the development and explained that due to Verbinski left due to dates clashing with his other projects. However, Kingsman: The Golden Circle star Channing Tatum is still on board as the lead.

So this is how the upcoming X-Men movies schedule looks like for now:

Deadpool 2: May 18, 2018

X-Men: Dark Phoenix: Nov 2, 2018

The New Mutants: Feb 22, 2019

Gambit: Jun 7, 2019