In a long-spanning interview with Variety about his career and upcoming projects, Channing Tatum discussed one of his dream projects that never fully got off the ground: the long-stalled and ultimately dropped Gambit solo movie. Fox’s X-Men movies were the MCU before the actual MCU became a thing. Back then, Fox had some ambitious plans for their own X-Men cinematic universe, with spinoff movies for individual characters.
Tatum was first attached to Fox’s Gambit spinoff in 2014. Reid Carolin and Tatum spent four years developing the film, which Variety described as “a raunchy stand-alone superhero movie about the X-Men,” with comparisons being drawn to Deadpool‘s irreverent tone.
“The studio really didn’t want us to direct it,” Tatum said. “They wanted anybody but us, essentially, because we had never directed anything.”
One of Gambit’s defining features in the early days of production was Tatum’s enthusiasm for the role and script, so much so that he was willing not to direct the film. During the interview, Tatum recalled having to defend the character from pushback:
“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 shit’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.”
The development of the film ended with the Disney merger with 20th Century Fox. Shortly after the acquisition was finalized, producer Simon Kinberg said Gambit was one of the movies whose future was being evaluated by its new owner, giving fans some hope that it might see the light of day. However, in May 2019, Disney removed the last of the X-Men movies in development from its schedule, alongside three mystery films.
After the announcement, Tatum admitted to being traumatized and even going so far as to swear off the Avengers movies: “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.”
Despite not having Gambit to play any time soon, Tatum has shown no signs of slowing down in his career. The actor is next slated to star in the comedy film Dog, which premieres on February 18, and romantic action-adventure movie The Lost D alongside Sandra Bullock, which will be released on March 25, as well as the upcoming Magic Mike sequel Magic Mike’s Last Dance, directed by original franchise helmer Steven Soderbergh and lined up for an HBO Max exclusive release.
Kelvin Owens is a TV/Movie News Writer at Collider. He has loved movies since the first time he sat in front of an old floor model at the tender age of nine and watched Back to the Future for the first time. “Where we’re going we don’t need roads.”
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