As per usual in the movie-making business, recent reports were a little exaggerated. After word came out Tuesday of Channing Tatum potentially dropping out of Fox's Gambit — a project he shepherded and caused the studio to jump-drive — to move into directing, it would seem there wasn't much danger of him dropping out after all, as he officially comes on board to produce and lead the upcoming superhero film.
THR got the exclusive. They claim any troubles with the star joining the project were simply natural back-and-forths needed to draw in such an A-list performer into a high-profile blockbuster like this. Since he was already quite attached to the film — in addition to this being a passion project of sorts for him, he also came to Comic-Con last month to confirm his involvement during Fox's panel — the deal wasn't especially hard to get down pat.
Much like Hugh Jackman with Wolverine, the studio expects the star to be attached to the character for a line-up of X-Men movies and standalone features, including the Rupert Wyatt-directed movie shooting this fall. It's possible he could play Gambit throughout the upcoming decade. This is very much in Fox's best interest, as Jackman gets ready to put away the claws following his involvement with 2017's The Wolverine sequel, rumored to follow the Old Man Logan storyline from the comics. He would have played the character for nearly 20 years at that time, starring with 2000's original X-Men movie.
Reid Carolin, Lauren Shuler Donner and Simon Kinberg join Tatum in producing. They work from a screenplay by Josh Zetumer, based on a treatment by the character's co-creator Chris Claremont. Gambit is mutant wielding kinetic energy powers, and is considered one of the anchor personalities in the X-Men universe. In addition to making sure Tatum was on board, this week's earlier report noted Wyatt and his team were looking at female leads to co-star alongside the Magic Mike XXL lead, with Lea Seydoux's name brought into the mix as additional young talents were looked in depth at the moment. There's no new status on where the role stands.
Additionally, it's unclear how Tatum's confirmed involvement affects whichever film he and Carolin choose their directorial debut. They were debating between making two different adaptations, one of Joe Nesbo's thriller The Son or one of Matthew Quick's drama Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock and hoping to start production on whichever they choose by the end of the year. It looks as though they'll have to move their plans over to next year, however, before Tatum gets to work on 23 Jump Street. He also has to squeeze in promotional rounds for the Coen brothers' Hail, Ceasar! and (possibly) The Hateful Eight in the meantime. He also was sought by Sony to lead a "male-centric" Ghostbusters, which he also would produce alongside Carolin. Where that movie stands in the scheme of things is pretty unclear, even to those involved.
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