‘Gambit:’ Shane Black and Joe Cornish Rumoured For Director’s Chair

The Gambit movie continues to search for a director, after the loss of Rupert Wyatt last month. With Channing Tatum throwing Doug Liman’s name into the candidate pool this week, and one of the hottest properties in Hollywood grounded to a halt, it’s slowly becoming clear that the studio wants to find a director pronto, and Liman isn’t the only one in the running. This week, it was revealed that Shane Black and Joe Cornish are also on the prospect list.

Inquisitr covered Wyatt’s departure last month, something that brought the Marvel project to its knees. Despite the setback, Channing Tatum has remained loyal to the project, and is strongly lobbying to find someone to take the helm. Doug Liman’s name was suggested by the film’s star, as revealed by Slash Film; but, this week, Heroic Hollywood has hinted — through one of their sources — that Iron Man 3 director Shane Black and Attack The Block helmer Joe Cornish are in the running, too.

The three names in focus here are interesting. Liman is probably the best known of the trio, with a stellar action résumé to his name. He directed The Bourne Identity (as well as earning a credit as executive producer on The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum), Mr. and Mrs. Smith and Jumper. All of these movies grossed massively at the box-office. Most recently, he directed Edge of Tomorrow with Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt. Based on his previous work, Liman would be a suitable fit for the movie, with a wealth of experience in directing taut, realistic action sequences, as well as over the top, enjoyable set-pieces. His past comedy projects, films like Swingers, means he can also direct lighthearted scenes to prevent the film from straying into too dark a territory.

Joe Cornish has a background in comedy, with writing credits on TV series like The Adam and Joe Show. He wrote the screenplay for The Adventures of Tintin and worked on the original drafts of Ant-Man with Edgar Wright, before his departure in 2014. His only directorial gig was Attack The Block in 2011, an urban science fiction/horror/comedy movie that portrayed a gang of youths defending their run-down council estate from an alien invasion. Despite being his only directorial credit, the film received critical acclaim from fans and critics alike. More recently, Cornish was announced as director on Snow Crash, a film based on the classic 1992 Neal Stephenson novel of the same name. Of the three names, Cornish is probably the biggest risk — although Marvel has gambled with unproven directors before, Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy being two prime examples.

And then there’s Shane Black. Already a Marvel director with Iron Man 3 under his belt, and with writing credits on iconic movies like Predator and Lethal Weapon (1987) and Last Action Hero (1993), Black made his directorial debut in 2005 with Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, a film he also co-wrote. Currently, he is working on The Nice Guys with Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe, Doc Savage and, of course, the Predator reboot. His experience may be the key indicator here; true, he has only directed two movies, but one of those made $1.2 billion at the box-office, and it was a Marvel film. The biggest obstacle in securing Black would be his crammed schedule, so Marvel might have to offer him a major incentive to secure his services.

Whoever takes the project, it will finally be a relief — to the studio and fans alike — to see Gambit roll into production. With Tatum starring as the Ragin’ Cajun, and producing the film, not to mention the immense press the project is receiving, it should only be a matter of time before Marvel secures their man.

Gambit is still scheduled for release on October 7, 2016. Less than a year to go.

[Featured Image courtesy of Marvel Comics]