The future of theX-MenMovie Universe feels a little bit uncertain right now.Deadpoolwas very successful, and that corner of the series is moving full-steam ahead. But the mainX-Menfranchise is getting messier and messier, especially afterX-Men: Apocalypse. Fox is going to be working on some more spinoffs to help keep the franchise moving forward, and even though there has been a massive delay, theGambitmovie appears to still be very much alive, and a part of the future for theX-Menfranchise.
ProducerSimon Kindbergrecently gave a very brief update on the status ofChanning Tatum’sGambitmovie. During a quick interview onThe Hashtag Show,Kindbergmentioned that he feels very strongly about the script for the movie, and that they are planning on shooting it at some point next year. Here is whatKindberghad to say.
“We have a great script on that and hope to shoot that movie at the beginning of spring of next year.”
Prior to the success ofDeadpooland before the release ofApocalypse, the producers behind the current run ofX-Men franchisemovies,Kindbergbeing a big part of that, were developing several other projects for the future. One of these projects involved theCajun mutantknown as Gambit, andChanning Tatumessentially willed the project into existence. He had talked publically about how much he loved the character and how he would love to play Gambit. That apparently got the attention of Fox, and being thatTatumis a very bankable movie star, the project seemed to come together fairly quickly. But then the problems started to stack up fairly quickly.
TheGambitmovie was originally scheduled for an October 2016 release date, but that is very far from a possibility now. The project originally had problems locking down a director, but eventually landedEdge of TomorrowhelmerDoug Limanto take on the movie.Limanseemed like a very good choice, but he also seems to have expensive tastes, and the movie would have very likely had a high production budget.Deadpoolwas much more well known as a character, and the movie made $781 million worldwide on a reported $58 million dollar budget. That makesDeadpoolthe highest grossing movie in theX-Menfranchise overall, and made Fox likely rethink their future strategy a bit. That also probably contributed to thedelaysforGambit.
Simon Kindberghas sort of become one of the biggest players behind the scenes for theX-Menfranchise at Fox, and is also pretty much their chief voice in the press these days. So, if he is saying that theGambit movieis going to film next spring, we should definitely lend some credibility to that. For now,Channing TatumandDoug Limanare keeping themselves busy, and Fox is working on a lot of otherX-Menfranchise movies, likeDeadpool 2, so we will have to wait and see if theGambitmovie ever actually becomes a reality.
