Channing Tatum Sticking With ‘Gambit’

Channing Tatum has closed the deal to play superhero Gambit, despite rumors this week that he was leaving the role for other options.

Variety reports that Channing Tatum is officially on board with the project which will see the cajun mutant Gambit in his own film. The character has been a member of the X-Men in the comic book series.

According to Variety, Channing Tatum has been attached to the Gambit project as both a producer and actor for some time. The magazine notes that Channing Tatum appeared at the Fox X-Men panel at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con.

Variety reports that while the deal has been signed, the exact extent to which Channing Tatum will be involved has yet to be announced.

The Hollywood Reporter reports the negotiations between Fox and Channing Tatum had hit a snag, but added that such back-and-forth deals are common in major motion picture contracts.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Fox wants the Gambit character to be an anchor, meaning he would star in his own movies as well as in ensemble films. This mean Channing Tatum would be committed much like the way Hugh Jackman has played the famous mutant X-Man Wolverine both in solo and group films. Jackman, who indicated that his next time appearing as Wolverine will be his last, has been playing the part for 15 years.

The Hollywood Reporter cites a source close to the negotiations who says that backend compensation was one of the issues that Fox and Channing Tatum had to work out.

In addition to Channing Tatum, Gambit has Rupert Wyatt to direct. He previously worked on Fox’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes. The script for Gambit was written by Josh Zetumer, based on a treatment by Chris Claremont, who was one of the co-creators of the Gambit character.

News that Channing Tatum is not leaving the film will likely be met with mixed reactions from fans. As reported by the Inquisitr, some fans were actually excited to hear that he was leaving the project. One of the reported rumors was that Channing Tatum was going to bail on the superhero project in favor of a supernatural one. Some sources said Channing Tatum was leaving Gambit to take a part in one of the upcoming Ghostbuster reboots.

If everything goes according to plan, Channing Tatum will take the screen as Gambit in October, 2016.

[Image by Lisa Maree Williams via Getty Images]