Bad news for 20th Century Fox and anyone who wanted to see Channing Tatum in a skintight blue and pink leather costume: the Magic Mike XXL star has reportedly left the upcoming Gambit movie, an X-Men spinoff in which he would have played the popular Marvel Comics character.
Although The Wrap, which broke the story, suggests that it may not be a done deal, they did seem confident enough to actually run the news of Tatum’s departure. It’s a major blow for the film, which was already in the midst of casting Tatum’s co-stars. Gambit was prepping for an October 7, 2016 release date, and recasting the title role may not be an easy task under such a tricky deadline.
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If true, 20th Century Fox would need to either find a new star quickly or push back the release date. But there may be a third and even less popular option: scrapping the film completely. Channing Tatum and his creative partner Reid Carolin were also producing Gambit, and if they remove themselves from that capacity, the future of the whole film could be thrown into doubt.
This news is breaking quickly, and we here at Crave would urge all you Gambit fans out there not to worry. Last minute recasting goes on all the time, and sometimes for the better. Hugh Jackman was a last minute replacement for actor Dougray Scott in the first X-Men movie, and just look at how well that turned out. Fox has a lot of energy devoted in the X-Men franchise nowadays and they are probably doing their level best to make certain that Gambit, if it is indeed in trouble, will come out eventually.
William Bibbiani is the editor of CraveOnline’s Film Channel and the host of The B-Movies Podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
