A new report from Deadline details the behind-the-scenes drama that led to the “Dark Phoenix” disaster and reveals the film was originally set up as a two-parter. With just $33 million at the box office over its debut weekend, “Dark Phoenix” is the lowest opener of the franchise and, according to IndieWire’s box office expert Tom Brueggemann, will most likely finish its run with a total domestic gross that is lower than the opening weekends of several previous “X-Men” movies. I would say that's probably the biggest contribution I made was pushing it in that direction.“ Dark Phoenix” opened in theaters nationwide June 7 and ended the 19-year-old “ X-Men” movie franchise at rock bottom. 'you've built up this real universe and you should establish it more before you go into Phoenix.' It was too soon to go into the Phoenix story and it was too soon to get cosmic. On X2, part of how I ended up getting the job on it was that originally that was going to be the Phoenix story. Writer Zak Penn revealed to THR that this wasn't always the plan, and the sequel was originally going to focus on Grey's transformation during his time on the movie, Penn managed to convince director Bryan Singer it was too soon to tackle that story: X-Men 2 ends with Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) seemingly sacrificing herself to save the team, only for the final shot to suggest she'll return as Phoenix. Related: X-Men: Dark Phoenix & New Mutants Undergoing Reshoots The series will give the storyline another try with forthcoming sequel X-Men: Dark Phoenix, which was recently pushed back to 2019 for reshoots. The film also became infamous for killing off major characters like Cyclops and Professor X, and for reducing the famous Phoenix story - where Jean Grey transforms into her cosmic alter ego - to a subplot. X-Men: The Last Stand was the final part of the original trilogy and was criticized for trying to cram too many characters and storylines into a runtime too slim to support them all. The success of the movie has spawned a long-running franchise and led to studios taking risks on other comic properties. The film treated its source material with respect and assembled a great cast, including Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, and Hugh Jackman. The original X-Menis often credited with kicking off the modern popularity of comic book movies. X2: X-Men United co-writer Zak Penn has revealed the sequel very nearly adapted the famous 'Phoenix Saga'.

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