Despite making an appearance just a couple weeks ago at Fox’s San Diego Comic-Con panel, it looks like Channing Tatum may be dropping out of 2016’s X-Men spinoff Gambit.
While nothing is official yet, The Wrap reports that the actor’s deal to star as the title character is certainly in “jeopardy,” although Fox is in the middle of negotiations to keep Tatum from leaving. The site even suggests that director Rupert Wyatt (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) will begin looking for actors to replace him shortly.
A casting call for the film was leaked online last Saturday, and it seemed that Gambit was moving along nicely, but there’s no denying that Tatum’s probable departure will be a major setback. Filming was supposed to start in October, and it still may, depending on how quickly Fox recovers.
Tatum was also set to produce the project with his partner Reid Carolin, so it’s unclear at the moment if they will still stay on board in that capacity. Regardless, Simon Kinberg and Lauren Shuler Donner will be producing, which have done on almost all of Fox’s most recent X-Men movies.
Taylor Kitsch originally played the card-throwing mutant onscreen in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, so Tatum would have been the second actor to play Remy LeBeau.
Gambit is slated for a October 7th, 2016 release.
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