W W W.SCI FI N OW.CO.U K |^033
NEW MUTANTS
Leave Them Kids Alone!
is haunted, right,” laughs actress
Alice Braga (who plays Dr Reyes)
when we meet her on set.
“We are shooting on one location
for about 90% of the movie, which
is very different than what typical
comic book movies go for I think,”
Boone explains. “Normal X-Men
movies are kind of grand science
fi ction fi lms and this is much
more like a performance driven,
supernatural horror movie.”
Indeed, performance-driven
themes like teenage angst and
horror are almost intertwined in
the upcoming movie. Teenage
years can feel like a horror story
in itself, with emotions ramped up
to 11 – add uncontrollable mutant
powers and that speaker is blown to
smithereens. “The horror [is] almost
necessary for these kids’ stories
because they went through so many
dark things to be where they are
right now,” says actor Henry Zaga
who plays Roberto.
Focusing on the trauma of
teenagers is very much in Josh
Boone’s wheelhouse. Directing
2014’s tear-inducing The Fault In
Our Stars, Boone knows how to pull
on the heart strings. Mix that in
with his lifelong love of all things
Stephen King (he used to keep a
copy of The Stand under his bed)
and we could be in for a real treat of
potent themes in The New Mutants:
“If I can make a horror movie
where I can make people cry but
also scare them, then we have done
something,” he says.
Boone has been a fan of the
comics since he was young and
has taken great care to turn his
childhood obsession into a movie
reality for the next generation of
kids who can look to the movie
for inspiration. “I wrote [The New
Mutants] with my best friend [Knate
Lee],” says Boone. “And when we
grew up, we had a comic book
company together. We loved The
New Mutants when we were kids,
because they were so dark and
surreal and atmospheric.”
Boone’s commitment to the
fi lm, as well as staying true to the
W W W.SCI FI N OW.CO.U K |^033
NEW MUTANTS
Leave Them Kids Alone!
is haunted, right,” laughs actress
Alice Braga (who plays Dr Reyes)
when we meet her on set.
“We are shooting on one location
for about 90% of the movie, which
is very different than what typical
comic book movies go for I think,”
Boone explains. “Normal X-Men
movies are kind of grand science
fi ction fi lms and this is much
more like a performance driven,
supernatural horror movie.”
Indeed, performance-driven
themes like teenage angst and
horror are almost intertwined in
the upcoming movie. Teenage
years can feel like a horror story
in itself, with emotions ramped up
to 11 – add uncontrollable mutant
powers and that speaker is blown to
smithereens. “The horror [is] almost
necessary for these kids’ stories
because they went through so many
dark things to be where they are
right now,” says actor Henry Zaga
who plays Roberto.
Focusing on the trauma of
teenagers is very much in Josh
Boone’s wheelhouse. Directing
2014’s tear-inducing The Fault In
Our Stars, Boone knows how to pull
on the heart strings. Mix that in
with his lifelong love of all things
Stephen King (he used to keep a
copy of The Stand under his bed)
and we could be in for a real treat of
potent themes in The New Mutants:
“If I can make a horror movie
where I can make people cry but
also scare them, then we have done
something,” he says.
Boone has been a fan of the
comics since he was young and
has taken great care to turn his
childhood obsession into a movie
reality for the next generation of
kids who can look to the movie
for inspiration. “I wrote [The New
Mutants] with my best friend [Knate
Lee],” says Boone. “And when we
grew up, we had a comic book
company together. We loved The
New Mutants when we were kids,
because they were so dark and
surreal and atmospheric.”
Boone’s commitment to the
fi lm, as well as staying true to the
