It's Official! Channing Tatum Closes The Deal To Play GAMBIT!

Apparently NOW the word now after all the ruckus about actor Channing Tatum disbanding from Twentieth Century Fox's production of the comic book adaptation, Gambit, is that he's officially closed a deal to star. A new report by CBM via THR suggests there was uncertainty as to whether or not Tatum would be able to return for multiple movies seeing as how the studio is looking forward to replacing Hugh Jackman as its Marvel franchise mainstay while he finishes his last stint as The Wolverine.

Gambit was created by Jim Lee and Chris Clairemont and unveiled in X-Men comic book universe beginning in 1990, sporting a cajun accent with impeccable charm and the ability to charge most objects with energy, rendering them explosive. Tatum has long been in the running to star, and much to the delight of executives at Fox, including Lauren Shuler Donner who has produced all of the studio's Marvel X-Men movies so far, including Jackman's final Wolverine film in 2017 and next year's release of X-Men: Apocalypse to name a few.

So there we have it. Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes helmer Rupert Wyatt is directing the darn thing from Robocop scribe Josh Zetumer's script and filming will begin soon in Louisiana for an October 7 release next year. The X-Men franchise has been quite epic so far, and with the studio moving on from Wolverine to vehicles like Deadpool and Gambit, the next several years should get even more interesting.

Personally I'm glad that Tatum has solidified his place in the film's production aside seeing as how much he's worked toward it. Sure, he's got his hands on other projects as well and that's fine, but an integral figure like Gambit has been long missing from the X-Men movies, so this was well worth the surprise. And if there are more Gambit titles to come, so be it.

Stay tuned for more info!

Photo: Nerdbastards.com

Fox's GAMBIT Loses Its Star

It's no fun wasting minutes of hype writing about movies and casting faves only to see such developments fall apart before our eyes. Actor Channing Tatum has long been the frontrunner for Twentieth Century Fox's upcoming production of live-action Marvel property, Gambit, having spoken with high hopes of playing the character, followed by word that Rupert Wyatt would be directing.

As of Tuesday night however, it appears it has all been for naught with a report from The Wrap stating the actor's departure from the film. No reason has been publicly given for the fallout, although any number of reasons are imaginable considering it's a major studio production, so, your guess is as good as mine at this point.

Production is expected to begin in Louisiana this October for a hefty sum of $154 million dollars ahead of its October 7, 2016 release. There's no word yet on who will replace Tatum who had been high on playing the role, doing everything from working on the classic Cajun accent to learning new card tricks to get the character right. Essentially, he would have been a great pick, and now we are going to need an actor who is just as passionate about the X-Men favorite if this is really going to work.

Still though, I think Banlieue 13 star David Belle would make a great candidate, but that's just me. Comment below or on our Facebook page and let us know who you think should play Gambit!

Rupert Wyatt To Direct Marvel's GAMBIT For Fox

All other things pending regarding actor Channing Tatum's involvement on the future Ghostbusters and Jumpstreet franchises in some capacity, the Magic Mike XXL star is currently out promoting his new film which is set to arrive on July 1. However if a male stripper drama isn't something you fancy and would rather see the actor in something a bit more explosive, you can best count on some of this happening in the upcoming release of 20th Century Fox's Marvel adaptation, Gambit, which has been in the works for a while now.

The bright-eyed mutant character was initially created by Chris Claremont and Jim Lee in 1990 and shares a history as a bit of a wild-card anti-hero in the X-Men spectrum of the Marvel universe. Hailing from Louisiana with a thick Cajun accent, the character is best known for his affiliation with the X-Men, on top of his love for one of its youngest mutants, Rogue, his ability to charm, and his knack for harnessing energy into objects to make them explosive. Following Battleship star Taylor Kitsch's rendering of the character in The Wolverine in 2009, Tatum was officially attached to the role early last year prior to Robocop scribe Josh Zetumer's attachment later on, and with plenty of time between now and the film's designated October 7, 2016 release date, EW exclusively reports that Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes and The Gambler helmer Rupert Wyatt will be directing.

Tatum is also producing the film with Reid Carolin, Lauren Shuler Donner and Simon Kinberg, the latter who wrote the upcoming August release of Josh Trank's Fant4stic reboot and is also producing the May 2016 release of Bryan Singer's X-Men: Apocalypse. The studio also has one other Marvel feature film adaptation in the form of Ryan Renyolds's expansion as Deadpool which arrives four months earlier, whilst developing another of Claremont's comic book work, The New Mutants with Josh Boone directing.

Stay tuned for more info!

[UPDATED] WB & Sony Currently Bidding For Rights To THE FOREVER WAR, Channing Tatum To Star

UPDATE: Looks like Warner Bros. gets it! (H/T: Deadline)

Being the fan that I am, my biggest concern is what lies ahead for actor Channing Tatum when he finally gets things rolling as Marvel mutant cardsharp and X-Men member, Remy LeBeau in a new Gambit film for Fox. Until then, there's plenty to talk about as the list of titles add up what with Sony moving forward with a batch of work as it continues its 21 Jumpstreet adventures with a possible Men In Black crossover.

Moreover, there's also a newly announced bidding war between Sony and Warner Bros. for the rights to author Joe Haldeman's 1974 book franchise, The Forever War, which later expanded to two sequel books and a graphic novel. The rights have been switching hands in the last couple of decades, including those of special effects pioneer and Star Wars franchise crew alum Richard Edlund, and director Ridley Scott who acquired the rights in 2008 with several screenwriters contributing drafts of their own.

THR describes the book as follows:

The 1974 novel of a young man conscripted into a military task force in a war against an alien species named the Taurans. Through many battles, the man rises up the ranks of the military but travelling through space has time-warping effects, causing him to age normally but Earth to spin centuries. 

The planet undergoes many changes, including the melding into one homogenous race, the elimination of heterosexuality, and the speaking of a new language.  At the same time, he tries to remain connected to his true love, a fellow (and female) soldier who also uses space-time to slow down her aging so she can be with him.

The novel itself is a prize pick for fans of sci-fi literature, and Warner and Sony are just two of several studios that have been after the rights to this property. That said, provided that the right script is at hand with the right director, this could be another hit. I still want my Gambit film though. Just sayin. Yes, I am biased here.

More to come!

Sony Announces Development For A GHOSTBUSTERS Movieverse For Channing Tatum And Chris Pratt To Star

It took a bit of evolving in the course of a few hours, but the word is that actor Chris Pratt is possibly on deck to join Channing Tatum in their own all-male Ghostbusters film for Tatum to produce for Captain America: The Winter Soldier helmers Anthony and Joe Russo on board to direct with a script by Iron Man 3-scribe Drew Pearce. That film is being reported as one of four universal films conjoined by Paul Feig's all-female Ghostbusters movie which is releasing in July of next year as both will tie in to a third followed by a fourth in the form a prequel.

These efforts come courtesy of the respective director and co-star of the original, Ivan Reitman and Dan Ackroyd who are now heading what THR cites as a "Ghost Corps" to help write and develop these films over at Sony while they plot a course for all four films. It's actually funny to be honest; Hours earlier on Monday I was just speaking with my friend Keith Hayward about who the folks at DMG and Valiant would line-up to direct some of their films following their most recent announcement on Sunday night and I threw in the Russos' as an option not knowing they would make more headlines this week. Silly me.

It took some effort as some of the headlines that were breaking had mildly misrepresented the facts by not mentioning there was a whole cinematic universe in the works a la Avengers, a fact Collider helped make clear via Badass Digest on Monday. Well, aside from last year's e-mail leaks, at least we now have an update that confirms just what it is we'll be in for, although I'm personally waiting for what lies ahead for Pratt and the Russos', including their future with the MCU through 2019, in addition to Tatum's Marvel debut as Gambit.

As for Sony's Ghostbusters plans, let's hope they don't fall apart like their plans did for Amazing Spider-Man. So many moving pieces... *sigh*