2024 wasn’t the first time Gambit met a tragic end in the pop culture zeitgeist as Channing Tatum’s unmade film also has an equally sad story. It is no secret that Tatum was set to star as Remy LeBeau / Gambit in a spin-off of Fox’s X-Men franchise. The film was reportedly deep in development until Disney acquired Fox.
However, the project never came to fruition, and producer Simon Kinberg’s obsession with one director might be to blame. According to reports, Kinberg was keen on getting director Edgar Wright to helm the project. However, Wright ultimately did not sign on for the project which might have had unsaid ramifications on the Tatum-led film.
X-Men Producer Simon Kinberg Wanted Edgar Wright For Channing Tatum’s Gambit Movie
Director Edgar Wright is known for developing Ant-Man for Marvel Studios before departing the project. However, Wright was once in contention for another Marvel Comics project, namely the Gambit movie starring Channing Tatum.
During a 2023 interview with /Film, Wright confirmed that X-Men producer Simon Kinberg had offered him the project. However, he turned it down due to a lack of familiarity with the character.
“Gambit wasn’t a character I knew too well. He appeared after my time reading Marvels — roughly 1985 — 1990 or so. [He] wasn’t one that I knew a lot about and hadn’t really read growing up, so it felt like it was someone else’s dream gig.”
Wright made the above statement underlining his reasoning for turning down the opportunity to direct the Gambit film.
On the other hand, in a separate interview, Kinberg also confirmed that he had discussed several X-Men films with Wright with the possibility of directing.
“I’ve chased Edgar for everything. I’ve chased Edgar for “X-Men” movies. I’ve chased him for literally every possible thing.”
Kinberg made the above statement, implying he had discussed the Gambit movie with Wright along with other projects. However, none of these projects came to fruition likely due to Wright not being fond of the X-Men characters.
Simon Kinberg’s Pursuit of Edgar Wright Likely Doomed Channing Tatum’s Gambit
The Gambit film went through several interactions, and by the 2010s was stuck in development hell. At the same time, Wright was attached to Ant-Man. Therefore, it is unclear exactly when Kinberg offered Wright the project. However, Wright was likely asked to direct the Tatum-led film after leaving Ant-Man, when Gambit was reportedly being drastically redeveloped sometime in 2017.
A major reason behind the delays faced by Gambit was the revolving door of directors as Gore Verbinski, Doug Liman, and Rupert Wyatt (via Variety) were all attached at some point, but ended up exiting the project. Therefore, had the film found a director such as Wright after its revamp, it could have started production before the Disney acquisition of Fox ended up hampering the project, resulting in its cancellation.
Ultimately, there is a speculative possibility that Kinberg’s pursuit of Edgar Wright to direct the Gambit film wasted some important time for the project. Had Kinberg sought an alternative to Wright, the production could have started soon and Tatum might have finally gotten his chance to appear on the screen as the Cajun mutant thief. While Wright and Kinberg are joining forces for a remake of The Running Man, Tatum’s dream to play Gambit remains unfulfilled.
