Fox Should Cancel The Gambit Movie

UPDATE: Gambit has an updated start date of June 2018.

Gambit is the X-Men film Fox are determined to make. It's also the X-Men movie they've had the most trouble with - and perhaps the one they should just outright cancel. The film has gone through multiple directors and the release date pushed back time and again. About the only constant has been Channing Tatum's desire to play the X-Men's "swamp rat," but that doesn't seem enough to get this film on to the big screen. With production now delayed once again, it's possible Fox will never get to make this movie; with the recent loss of Gore Verbinski and a release date move to 2019, it's back in a similar state it's been in for years.

Something's very wrong with this production, and it's time for Fox to take a long, hard look at Gambit. While most of their X-Men film slate looks tremendous, this is the one film that should really be canceled.

This Page: Gambit's Terrible Time In Development Hell

Fox Has Been Trying To Make A Gambit Movie For Years

Fox have had plans for the Ragin' Cajun for years. In fact, Tatum almost played Gambit in 2006's X-Men: The Last Stand but the character was written out, then was busy filming G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra when he finally debuted in X-Men Origins: Wolverine a few years later (the role instead went to Taylor Kitsch). Even then, Fox seemed to hope the character would be successful enough to launch a spin-off film, and there were reports Kitsch signed a three-picture deal.

Fast-forward to 2014, Lauren Donner revealed that she'd begun planning a Gambit film with Tatum. In October that year, Fox hired Josh Zetumer to write the screenplay. With Tatum set to co-produce the film, Fox announced a release date of October 7, 2016. It took the studio months to find a director, though, with Gareth Evans, Bennett Miller, and J.C. Chandor passing on the film. Finally, in June 2015, Rupert Wyatt signed up. However, that was when things first began to get complicated.

At the time, Fox was concerned about the possibility of losing Hugh Jackman, and believed they needed another franchise lead. They fixed their eyes on Tatum's Gambit, planning to turn the film into a blockbuster. There were rumors Tatum himself was unimpressed with the idea; it wasn't the film he'd imagined it to be. In September 2015, Wyatt bowed out. Although Wyatt put this down to a scheduling conflict, there were reports he'd grown "skittish" and wanted to rewrite the script.

Gambit's Repeating Director Problems

Desperate to keep the release date, Fox did the rounds. They found director Doug Liman, and by November 2015 he was reworking the script. At this stage, producer Simon Kinberg began to realize the film could be very different. Fox was noting increased interest in R-rated characters like Deadpool, and Kinberg began to imagine Gambit as a "sexy thriller."

Fox canceled Gambit's release date while the script was being worked on, and Liman began to film other projects. As time passed, Liman seemed to become increasingly distant from the project. Finally, in August 2017 he jumped ship. In an ironic twist, Liman was signed up with DC's Dark Universe instead.

The next few months passed with only occasional comment about Gambit. Both Tatum and Fox were clear that the film was still "in active development," but it took the studio until October to hire a new director - Gore Verbinski. The film was assigned a new release date, February 14, 2019. Then, in yet another twist, Verbinski pulled out early this year. Fox has pushed the release date back again, to June 7, 2019. There's currently no director associated with the project.

Rogue flying and Gambit throwing charged cards

Fox Don't Know What They Want From Gambit

The problem with Gambit is a simple one: Channing Tatum wants to make a Gambit movie and Fox believe Gambit could be on the big screen; but neither star nor the studio seem to have a solid idea what they actually want from the film. Is Gambit intended to be a franchise-lead, akin to Hugh Jackman's Wolverine? Or does the studio want to make another low-budget R-rated spinoff, in the vein of Deadpool and Logan? Fox's intentions vary depending on their latest success, but the fact they could pivot so easily suggests they lack a clear vision for Gambit.

Ironically, there's a reason for that. It's because even Marvel Comics has never had a clear vision for Gambit. The character was created by legendary X-Men scribe Chris Claremont and was originally intended to betray the X-Men. Marvel was surprised at the character's popularity and quickly changed direction, making him a member of the X-Men's Blue Team in the '90s. That decade saw Gambit begin his longstanding romance with Rogue. As popular as this relationship may be with fans, it's essentially come to define the Ragin' Cajun.

It's usually female characters who become little more than the love interest, but Gambit is the exception to the rule. He's the bad boy who Rogue longs to redeem, the one who wants to have the girl he can't touch. Their on-again-off-again relationship has been a constant since the '90s (they're currently starring in a Gambit and Rogue series that's kicked things off once more). However, Rogue has been able to stand on her own two feet as a character, even leading an Avengers team. In contrast, Gambit has been sidelined. His ongoing series have rarely performed well in sales, and have had short runs. Even team books featuring Gambit have struggled. In 2014, after the cancellation of his All-New X-Factor, writer Peter David noted that "it'll probably be a long time before [Gambit] gets to star in another book."

Culture Has Moved On From Gambit

Gambit was a successful character in the '90s, largely because he was a walking archetype; the bad boy with a heart of gold. The irreverent flirt who's actually fallen in love, and is trying to be faithful. The secretive figure who knows he doesn't deserve a woman's love but wants it nonetheless. Fans like Tatum grew up with the character and considered him to be the height of cool.

But culture has moved on, and even Gambit's romance with Rogue has taken on sinister undertones in retrospect. If a modern film actually recreated that relationship, Gambit would be a sleaze. He was the man who couldn't say no, who would cradle Rogue in his arms and try to kiss her even as she squirmed and told him to back off. It was all portrayed through a strange, now slightly disturbing lens; that Rogue was attracted to him too, but was denying her own desires. The arc simply hasn't aged well.

All this means Fox actually have precious little to develop. With Logan, the studio produced a breathtaking film that blended a classic Wolverine arc - "Old Man Logan" - with fan-favorite X-23. With Deadpool, they tapped into one of the most popular and entertaining characters of modern Marvel comics. With New Mutants, director Josh Boone is creating a horror film inspired by a classic comic book run. But there is barely anything solid behind Gambit; and what little there is, doesn't fit with contemporary culture anyway.

It's true that Channing Tatum loves the character of Gambit, but that's not a good enough reason for Fox to make a movie. The film's been in development hell since 2014, and yet another director has passed on the project. It's time for Fox to call it a day, and let Gambit slip off their radar once and for all.

Next: Most WTF Things That Happened To Gambit