Gambit, the upcoming X-Men movie starring Channing Tatum (21 Jump Street), has lost its director. Gore Verbinski (the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy) has peacefully left the film due to scheduling conflicts, according to Deadline.
Entertainment Weekly, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety and TheWrap also back up the director’s exit.
The movie begins filming in New Orleans in March, according to a report from Omega Underground on Tuesday. 20th Century Fox has the movie scheduled for Feb. 19, 2019. UPDATE: Shortly after this news, Fox changed the release date to June 7, 2019.
Verbinski is the third director to leave the project after Rupert Wyatt (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) left over creative differences in 2015 and Doug Liman (Swingers) wasn’t feeling the script in 2016. He was first announced as director in October. Tatum was first confirmed to play the superhero all the way back in May 2014.
Gambit tells the story of Remy LeBeau (Tatum) who was born with the mutant ability to charge objects with kinetic energy. He can throw down with a bo staff and charges up playing cards with energy to throw at his enemies. He was portrayed by Taylor Kitsch (Friday Night Lights) in X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
Maybe Fox can ask Tim Miller (Deadpool) to direct, assuming he’s not helming the Kitty Pryde movie he’s developing as announced yesterday.
The next X-Men movie to come out is New Mutants on April 13. UPDATE: Fox delayed New Mutants to Feb. 22, 2019. The next Fox-Marvel movie is now Deadpool 2, which has also just been moved. Instead of opening June 1, Deadpool 2 now hits theaters on May 18.
