Channing Tatum Reportedly Interested In Directing The Long-Delayed 'Gambit' Film That Will Never Get Made

We are fast approaching the five-year anniversary of the first time we reported that Channing Tatum is in line to play the “X-Men” character Gambit in a solo film. Since then, the film project has gone through constant changes, gaining directors, losing directors, getting a scheduled release date, and then, of course, losing that release date. But through thick and thin, one thing has remained the same – Tatum. And according to a new report, he may just very well take control of the whole thing himself.

Buried in a recent Deadline article about the actor leaving his agents and management is the brief little nugget about the upcoming “Gambit” film. We’ll just let the report speak for itself: “He has long been slotted to play the charming card-throwing mutant, and buzz has been that he might direct the film after several other filmmakers have been in and out.”

That’s right, Channing Tatum might just say “fuck it!” and direct the whole “Gambit” film himself. Now, before those “Magic Mike” and “21 Jump Street” fans start celebrating in the streets, let’s temper those expectations down, quite a bit.

First, let’s pretend there’s a world in which Fox will move ahead with Tatum directing his own version of “Gambit.” That project would inevitably be short-lived. You see, the Disney/Fox deal is expected to finalize by the end of March, at the latest, and by then, it’s been speculated that the mutants won’t make their official rebooted MCU debuts until at least a year or so away. That means, even if Disney wanted this to happen, Tatum will have been waiting at least 6 or 7 years, and at some point, the man has to let go of his dream, right?

Now, the second piece of bad news is that this “Gambit” film is most likely cursed. Seriously, it’s been a running joke for years now that the mutant superhero film will never be made. We’ve gone through no less than three separate directors (not including Tatum) so far. Hell, there’s even an entire Wikipedia entry just on the development of the film. We’re not superstitious or anything, but it’s clear that God and every other holy deity in the universe don’t want this film to be made. And who are we to go against the creators of the universe?

That being said, we’ll always be here to give you the latest news on “Gambit.” So, until next time, True Believers!