Could Gambit be in trouble? It appears so, as The Wrap reports Channing Tatum is threatening to walk away from the upcoming superhero film, in which he is scheduled to star and produce, just weeks before filming begins.
The report doesn’t say anything about how this might affect the future of the film. Obviously, Fox has put a lot of money and effort into the film so far, and it would be a huge loss to write it off completely. However, without Tatum, do you even attempt this film? Gambit was already a big gamble, due to the fact the character is relatively unknown to the general public outside of Taylor Kitsch‘s brief appearance in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. It was Tatum’s enthusiasm for the role, and his star power, that even made this film possible. It’s clear that if Tatum does depart the film, Fox would need to reevaluate the situation.
This news comes the same day as a document surfaced detailing the films production schedule and budget. According to a document on LouisianaEntertainment.gov, we know the filming dates and the budget of the X-Men spinoff.
Filming is set to begin October 13, 2015 and end February 12, 2016 with a budget just over $150 million. At first glance, the budget for the film seems comparable to recent superhero films. However, when you look at the recent performance of the X-Men films, especially spinoffs, it seems a bit high. The most recent X-Men spinoff film, The Wolverine, was released in 2013 with a budget of only $120 million, but barely grossed that amount domestically with $132 million. Granted worldwide the film grossed over $400 million, but that would hardly register as a major box office success.
It’s interesting they’re willing to give a higher budget to a film with a lesser-known character that didn’t have any buildup in other films like Wolverine had before he went solo. That said, the figure would seem to be relative to Tatum’s star power at the moment. With a budget at $150 million, Fox has to expect worldwide grosses to be around, or well above, $400 million to be deemed much of a success. In my eyes, that’s far from a guarantee for a film released in October, even with Channing Tatum starring. If you don’t have the star playing the title character, then this film seems like a potential disaster. I wonder how fans would react if they actually decided to cast Kitsch in the role.
One thing this would seem to confirm, however, is Tatum most definitely X-Men: Apocalypse. I wouldn’t be surprised if the plan was to have him shoot an end credits stinger, but could you imagine if they’d introduced Tatum in the actual movie only to run into this stumbling block before actually starting the solo feature?
Regardless of what happens, expect to hear word very soon about the film’s future. Gambit is currently scheduled to be released October 7, 2016.
