‘X-Men’ Boss Simon Kinberg Says ‘Gambit’ Will Film This Year…For Real This Time

Believe it or not, it’s been over 4 years since we learned that Channing Tatum was going to play the titular character in the “X-Men” spin-off film “Gambit.” Since then, the project has gone through a handful of directors, a couple missed release dates, and a ton of uncertainty. At this point, the film is already the butt of jokes, with fans not believing the film will ever see the light of day.

And with that in mind, here we go again…

With the world premiere of “Deadpool 2” recently, “X-Men” universe head honcho Simon Kinberg spoke to Variety and was asked about the status of the spin-off film. Watching the clip, I was fully expecting Kinberg to laugh in the interviewer’s face, but to my surprise, he provided a pretty big announcement. Not only is “Gambit” really a thing, but it’s a thing that will actually start filming this year.

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“We have a script that we love — that Channing loves,” Kinberg said. “We’ve met with a bunch of directors in the last couple of weeks, and we’re hoping to actually pick one in the next couple of weeks and shoot the movie maybe the end of this summer.”

Now, I can already hear the comment section crying out, “Never gonna happen!” You have every right to be hesitant in believing anything coming from Kinberg’s mouth about “Gambit.” However, it’s worth pointing out that his comment is the most confident I’ve heard anyone speak about his project in months. The only question remaining is, who the hell are they going to get to direct the film?

Rupert Wyatt and Doug Liman were all attached to direct but dropped out. It was heavily rumored last year that “Pirates of the Caribbean” director Gore Verbinski would step up to take the job, but he too exited the project. However, with Kinberg’s comments, you have to assume that Fox started from scratch with their search.

So, call me hopelessly optimistic, but maybe this “Gambit” movie might actually get made. Hopefully, I’ll be back here in a couple weeks with some big director news. Yeah, probably not.