Gambit gets a new production start date, indicating 20th Century Fox is still moving forward with the X-Men universe film. The studio’s X-Men series first launched in 2000, but has since grown into much larger franchise. With mainline X-Men films, a solo Wolverine trilogy, and spinoffs like Deadpool, Fox has expanded their superhero franchise a great deal. Plus, ever since Deadpool and Logan proved atypical superhero movies could be successful with critics and at the box office, Fox’s X-Men movies have diversified in tone - including going the full horror route with the upcoming New Mutants.

However, as Fox’s X-Men franchise has evolved over recent years, one project that seems to keep hitting major setbacks is Gambit. Though Channing Tatum remains attached to star in Gambit as the mutant Remy LeBeau, the project has seen a revolving door of directors come and go. The X-Men spinoff hit another snag when Gambit lost director Gore Verbinski earlier this year. Production was put on hold as Fox searched for a new director and the studio pushed back the film’s release date by about four months. However, now Tatum’s Gambit project has received some good news.

Omega Underground is reporting that Fox has set a new production start date for Gambit, with cameras set to roll on June 19 in Remy LeBeau’s hometown of New Orleans, Louisiana. It’s expected the X-Men spinoff will film at Big Easy Studios, where fellow Fox superhero movie Logan shot. Omega Underground speculates that now that Fox has set a new start date for Gambit, the studio will soon announce a director for the project.

Gambit has set production start dates in the past - many times - so it’s not necessarily a surefire indication the project will move forward. In fact, Fox had just set a filming start date when Verbinski left the project. Since this new start date has been reported before the studio officially announces a new director, hopefully that means they’re especially confident in who they have lined up to helm the film. For his part, Tatum said in an interview last summer that Gambit was starting over following the success of Deadpool and Logan. That seemed to indicate Fox was open to giving the creative team on the Ragin’ Cajun’s solo outing more freedom, but fans will have to wait to find out who the new director is before getting an idea of what the film may look like.

Whether fans will ever get to see Tatum’s vision for Gambit remains to be seen. The project has had a number of directors attached, with production gearing up to start, only for the filmmaker to step away from the movie. Now that Fox has set a new start date, it looks like Gambit is taking a step forward. It also indicates we’ll get news of a new helmer soon enough. But given how many delays the film has had, fans will likely wait for Gambit to take significant steps toward becoming reality - like naming a director and officially beginning production - before getting too excited about this latest development.

Next: What The Hell Is Going On With The X-Men Franchise?

Source: Omega Underground

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