Channing Tatum Talks Failed X-Men Spin-Off “Gambit”
While comic book film adaptations are nothing new, FOX arguably kicked the modern era of box office domination for the genre with their 2000 hit, X-Men. And while the franchise has had multiple sequels, of varying quality and success, and several spin-offs, one of the most anticipated was Gambit, which was originally set to be released in October of 2016 and star Channing Tatum as the titular mutant hero.
However, things wouldn’t go quite as planned, with the film getting repeatedly pushed back, with multiple directors, including Gore Verbinski, Doug Liman, and Rupert Wyatt, signing up for the gig, but ultimately abandoning the project. The continued creative upheaval, combined with FOX’s hit-or-miss track record, and an inability to settle on a script doomed this project from the start. With the 2019 sale of Fox to Disney, the project was quickly scrapped.
Out doing the press rounds for his upcoming feature, Dog, Channing Tatum sat down with Variety and commented on what happened with Gambit:
The studio really didn’t want us to direct it. They wanted anybody but us, essentially, because we had never directed anything. [And] Once ‘Gambit’ went away, I was so traumatized. I shut off my Marvel machine. I haven’t been able to see any of the movies. I loved that character. It was just too sad. It was like losing a friend because I was so ready to play him.
It’s certainly disappointing to find out some of the details of why the movie was never properly realized. Gambit, a mutant with the power to kinetically charge non-biological objects, as well as being a master thief, is a huge fan favorite and is arguably the most popular X-Men character, other than Wolverine and Deadpool. Tatum continued, discussing the proposed film’s tone, stating that:
They would call him ‘flamboyant’ in his description. I wouldn’t – he was just the coolest person. He could pull anything off. Most superheroes, their outfits are utilitarian. Batman’s got his belt. Gambit’s like, ‘No, this s–t’s just fly, bro! This shit walked down the Paris runway last year.’ He’s just wearing the stuff that’s so dope because he loves fashion.
While a solo Gambit film is off the table, there is no telling what will happen in the MCU and the character might pop-up one day when/if the X-Men are properly introduced in the Disney franchise. Tatum, for his part, certainly isn’t hurting for work, with Dog set to release in theaters on February 18th and a third Magic Mike project in the pipeline as an HBO Max exclusive.
