A few months back we received some terrible news that Gambit , starring Channing Tatum, was pulled from Fox’s release schedule. Originally set to release Oct. 7 this year, filming was scheduled to begin this Spring. Why the delay? Because the creative team wants to make sure they get Gambit 100% right.
X-Men: Apocalypse writer/producer Simon Kinberg put an end to Gambit’s delay speculation during an interview with Flickering Myth . With the release date being pushed back time and time again, it was hard to even believe the film is still in the works. The good news, Kinberg revealed the script is almost done and production is slated to begin at the end of 2016 or early 2017.
“There was a moment when we were going to shoot the movie at the beginning of this year, and then we felt like it just wasn’t ready,” Kinberg said. “We’ve got to get the script right. We just didn’t get the script to the place where we all thought the movie deserved. So we’re still working on the script. We’re very close, actually, to being done with the script. And the hope is that Channing [Tatum] has a couple of movies he has to shoot, but that we would shoot at the end of this year, or the beginning of next year.”
Kinberg points to the way Deadpool was able to develop a unique tone and voice. He also wants Gambit’ s live-action arc to closely follows the comics.
“I think one of the things that I’ve learnt on all these movies – and maybe the lesson was best learned for me on Deadpool – is the most important thing is getting the tone and the voice right. That the storytelling, the actual narrative, the plots are sort of interchangeable and disposable, ultimately.” He continued, “...we’ve really tried to do with Gambit is make sure that we get the voice of that character right and the tone of the comics 100% on the page. It’s a very unique tone. It’s unique from Deadpool, it’s unique from the X-Men. It’s a heist movie that we’ve never done in these kinds of films before. He’s a con-man. And so that’s really where we’ve spent our time.”
Gambit was originally set to be directed by Rupert Wyatt ( Rise of the Planet Apes ), but he was subsequently replaced by Doug Liman ( Edge of Tomorrow ). Considering Kinberg’s comments, the film’s delay was due to rewrites from Magic Mike’s Reid Carolin.
Lea Seydoux was attached to the project as the female lead, Bella Donna, but it’s unclear if she’s still onboard. Kinberg describes Gambit as a “heist movie” and a “sexy thriller.” For those unacquainted, Gambit, also known as Remy LeBeau, is a kinetic energy-charging, card-throwing mutant who has a romantic history with Bella Donna.
Fox is hoping to expand the X-Men franchise, kicking off with their biggest movie yet, X-Men: Apocalypse , on May 27. Gambit’ s original release date would have filled the gap between Apocalypse and Wolverine 3 , which is due March 3, 2017. Fox has two opens Marvel release slots, October 6, 2017 and January 12, 2018 . Hopefully, Channing Tatum will be worth the wait.
