LOS ANGELES, Oct 6 — Gore Verbinski — who directed the three first Pirates of the Caribbean movies — is reportedly in talks with Fox to take the helm of the upcoming X-Men spinoff Gambit, according to Deadline. Channing Tatum is still lined up to play the mutant with superhuman powers.
Since being officially announced in 2015, Gambit has already had two directors — Rupert Wyatt (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) and Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity). Since August 2016, the movie — based on the Marvel comic books by Chris Claremont and Jim Lee — has been without a director at the helm.
American media is now reporting that this could soon change. Gore Verbinski has apparently been approached to direct Channing Tatum in the role of Remy LeBeau — aka Gambit — the New Orleans mutant capable of creating, controlling and manipulating kinetic energy. The character previously appeared on the big screen in 2009 movie X-Men Origins: Wolverine, played by Taylor Kitsch.
Details on the project are still relatively scarce. As yet, there’s no word on when the film could enter production, for example, let alone be released. The cast also appears to be incomplete. Apart from Channing Tatum in the lead role, no other actor is officially linked to the film. Some rumours suggest Daniel Craig could take a role as a bad guy, while other rumours mention French actress Léa Seydoux.
Gambit will see Fox expand its X-Men universe a little further on the big screen. Three movies about the Marvel mutants are already on the cards for 2018. New Mutants, featuring a new generation of heroes, is slated for release April 13, followed by Deadpool 2 June 1, and X-Men: Dark Phoenix November 2. The latter sees Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy return to the franchise, now joined by Jessica Chastain. — AFP-Relaxnews
