If you’ve been keeping up with news at the weekend you may have already heard this piece but if not here it is: Channing Tatum has officially signed on to play fan-favourite X-Men character Gambit.
THR reports the news that Tatum will be playing the staff-wielding, card throwing character in the long-gestating spinoff movie.
There were rumours over the last week or so that the deal had fallen through but it appears it was just generic bumps along the road as opposed to any major issues that would have actually caused him to walk away from the project. And besides, Tatum is apparently heavily invested in playing the character – played in X-Men Origins: Wolverine by Taylor Kitsch, which went down like a lead baloon – having researched it and been attached as both star and producer for literally years now.
Word is one of the things that needed working out was just how heavily the character would feature in the wider X-Men cinematic universe. With Hugh Jackman not long for Wolverine, Fox needs another mainstay and Tatum would certainly help bring in audiences with his recent successes in the likes of 22 Jump Street and Magic Mike XXL.
It would obviously require a big commitment from the actor beyond just a solo spinoff movie so that looks like the wrinkles that needed ironed out behind the scenes, along with the obvious back-end salary deals that are so common with actors signing on for superhero movies these days.
Are you happy Tatum is playing Gambit? Or is there another actor out there you think would be a better fit?
Gambit has a release date of October 17th, 2016. X-Men: Apocalypse hits cinemas a few months earlier on May 19th, 2016. Will we see Tatum pop up as the character in that movie before he appears in his own?…
Sources: THR and Movieline (image)