High Profile Directors Keep Passing on Channing Tatum's GAMBIT Movie
Art by Fernando Peniche
Channing Tatum is very excited to finally get his solo Gambit movie off the ground. He's almost ready to go. He has a script written by Josh Zetumer (Robocop remake), and producers Lauren Shuler Donner and Simon Kinberg are on board with experience working on several of 20th Century Fox’s Marvel properties. All the movie needs now is a director.
Apparently Tatum has been going after some big names to take on the project, but they keep saying no him. According to Umberto Gonzales he has approached Bennett Miller, who directed Tatum in Foxcatcher, and Darren Aronofsky, who was once attached to direct The Wolverine. Then, according to the Meet the Movie Press podcast (via ScreenCrush), Gareth Evans, who directed The Raid films, and J.C. Chandor, who wrote and directed A Most Violent Year, have also been asked to direct the movie.
I'm interested in knowing why all of these directors have said no. Tatum seems like a bankable star, and Gambit is a popular X-Men character that fans have been waiting to see get his own movie. The only things I can think of is that either the script sucks, they just don't have the time to do it, or it's simply not a project that's right for them.
The fact that Tatum is going after such talented directors is a good sign though. It means he wants his Gambit film to be great. He's not going after mediocre directors who make mediocre films. So even if there are script issues, the actor is looking for someone who will be able to come in and make it better. With that being the case, I'm curious to see who he ends up landing to take on the project.
Fox is planning to release the movie in theaters in October of 2016, so if they are going to hit that date, they need to start shooting fairly soon. Who do you think would make a good director for Gambit?