It’s time to squeeze in another superhero movie in with all the other Marvel and DC Comic character films coming between now and 2020. Deadline reports that a Gambit movie based on the Marvel X-Men series produced by Fox is now official and set to star Channing Tatum ( 22 Jump Street , White House Down ).
According Deadline , Gambit will receive his own spin-off movie. Presumably, this will happen after the character makes an appearance in X-Men: Age of Apocalypse , per current rumors previously reported by the Inquisitr .
Tatum reportedly will not only star in the film, but will also be attached as a producer along with Free Association partner Reid Carolin, The Donners Company’s Lauren Shuler Donner, and Genre Films’ Simon Kinberg.
The screenplay will be handled by Josh Zetumer, who only has 2014’s RoboCop reboot under his belt. While plot details are being kept secret, Deadline reports “The screenplay will be based on a treatment penned by legendary Marvel Comics writer Chris Claremont, who with Jim Lee created the character for Marvel in 1990.”
That run of Claermont comics may have been Gambit at his best as the devil may care Cajun thief. The character is known for his mutant ability to charge objects with kinetic energy and hurl them at enemies. His signature object to use is, of course, playing cards.
While the screenplay may not be known, Tatum made it sound like he doesn’t want to it to be the typical superhero movie we’ve come to expect over the past decade.
“I don’t want to give too much away because we don’t know that much right now other than who Gambit is. We really do want to try our hardest to give something fresh. We’re obviously going to go to the saving the world superhero movies eventually, but not for the first one.”
Tatum has made his interest in playing Gambit be known for a long time. While X-Men producer Donner has mentioned an interest in the character as well, Deadline’s report is the first confirmation that the character will return to the big screen.
Gambit’s only movie appearance thus far was in 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine . The character was played by Taylor Kitsch at the time, but his brief appearance combined with the overall disaster to the X-Men timeline did not endear anyone to the role.
The good news is X-Men: Days of Future Past completely wiped out the events of X-Men Origins: Wolverine . The movie franchise has been completely retconned so we can all pretend that both Wolverine movies never happened along with the first three X-Men movies. It also allows a fresh cast to step into roles such as Cyclops, Jean Grey, and other X-Men staples.
Tatum is currently filming Magic Mike XXL and has Hail, Casesar! on his slate of upcoming films, plus 23 Jump Street . The Bryan Singer directed X-Men: Apocalypse is currently targeting a 2016 release. That makes a Gambit film not likely to appear until 2017 or later.
Are you excited for a Gambit film with Channing Tatum? Let us know why or why not in the comments below.
[Images via Marvel , 22 Jump Street ]