Channing Tatum

The filmmaker with the distinct privilege of being eyed by Channing Tatum to direct the ‘Gambit’ movie happens to be one Doug Liman, most recently at the head of the deservedly beloved Edge of Tomorrow

Can I buy tickets to Hail, Caesar! yet? Can I preorder the Blu-ray? Too early to add it to my top ten list of the year?

Following last month’s brief (very brief) confusion over whether Channing Tatum was fully committed to the Gambit solo movie comes news of an actual shakeup behind the scenes. Director Rupert Wyatt has exited the project, leaving the director’s chair vacant and 20th Century Fox in need of a quick replacement if they hope to make their fall 2016 release date.

Channing Tatum, Hollywood’s most likable leading man, and Darren Aronofsky, one of the film industry’s most interesting filmmakers, are joining forces to make an Evel Knievel biopic. That’s a combination of names and subject matter that we never thought we’d see in the same sentence, but if Tatum wants to jump over buses on a motorcycle and if Aronofksy wants to film him doing it, we’re buying a ticket.

A few weeks back we learned that a few actresses were on 20th Century Fox’s shortlist to star opposite Channing Tatum in Gambit: Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation breakout star Rebecca Ferguson, Mad Max: Fury Road’s Abbey Lee, and Spectre’s Lea Seydoux. Ferguson declined to take the part, leaving just Lee and Seydoux, but it looks like the latter has the part locked down…if she wants it.

Last week, when news broke that Channing Tatum might be leaving Gambit, there was a little extra piece of news that you may not have noticed while you were panicking: Tatum was in the midst of testing opposite potential leading ladies, including Spectre star Lea Seydoux. 20th Century Fox has a couple of other interesting names on their lead actress short list, including Rebecca Ferguson, who just kicked all of the ass in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation.

ScreenCrush’s Comic Strip is a weekly roundup of the hottest superhero movie/TV news items. From Marvel to DC and points in between, if it pertains to costumed comic book heroes, we’re covering it here, bringing you our expert analysis. This week, we explore what went down with Gambit this week, check out the latest updates on the DC movie universe, and drool over that upcoming Hulkbuster figure.

Earlier this week news broke that Channing Tatum had abruptly (at least from an outsider’s perspective) exited the Gambit solo film. No reason was given, although with the reported, proposed budget coming in at $160 million (that’s $10 million more than X-Men: Days of Future Past), it seemed fair to speculate that Tatum’s departure had something to do with budget issues. You can breathe a sigh of relief now, though, because Tatum is back on the Gambit pony.

Lots of superhero news today, but not all of it is good (depending on your perspective): Channing Tatum has officially exited the Gambit solo movie, even though the actor recently appeared with the X-Men and Deadpool casts at Comic-Con, where he participated in a very memorable group selfie.

Deadpool wasn’t the only character who wasn’t properly represented in X-Men Origins: Wolverine — Gambit was also fairly disappointing in that film, leading many fans to wonder if we’d ever see a decent version of the character on the big screen. We’re finally getting our wish with Channing Tatum in the role of the Cajun mutant, and new info on the film not only reveals that it will begin shooting this fall, but gives us some idea of the players involved.