I wasn’t even going to write about this ridiculous opinion that started over at Batman News then fuelled by Comic Book Movie, but I think it needs to be addressed as they’re spouting misinformation to their readers. Ignoring this kind of bullshit only adds to the ignorance spreading online.
Batman News pointed-out that Channing Tatum was followed by Flash director Rick Famuyiwa on Twitter. Flash was developed by Channing’s 21 Jump Street directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller, nobody seems to be making that connection as it could be more friendly reasons than professional. However, for some reason people are under the impression this social media follow equals an automatic speculative DC role for Tatum, even if that were true (which it isn’t at this point nothing suggests it does) this doesn’t put other projects in jeopardy.
They had a stroke of good luck with their speculative piece on Rick Famuyima following DC people, but this is beyond reaching.
First, the notion that Gambit is “development hell” is a straight-up lie inferred by both Batman News and Comic Book Movie, it looks like they’re both pushing their own opinions rather than laying-out the actual information concerning the production, obviously to spark chatter in their comments sections along with earning extra hits to the misleading articles.
I get it, people are not the biggest fans of the Gambit project on paper, but this doesn’t exclude the fact it’s slatted to start production this fall with Doug Liman attached to direct, along with Tatum’s producing partner Reid Carolin (screenwriter of Magic Mike films) putting finishing touches on the script in the meantime.
Plenty of productions end-up with TBA release dates, there are multitude of reasons for this, for one thing they’re waiting on the script to actually nail-down the length of the production and post-production process. We’ll likely get a new release date once the actual casting begins.
Doug Liman’s scheduling for international promotion for the Tom Cruise film Mena as it’s release dates will be around the time Gambit is expected to be shooting, might have pushed delays as well. Not to mention post-production on his war film The Wall for Amazon Studios, which he’ll be directing while Reid is completing the script.
There’s also the issue of Doug Liman looking to recast the film from scratch pending the final script. This stemming from the biggest reason Gambit was delayed a full year, the fact Rupert Wyatt left as director just before production and Liman is now overseeing his own creative vision for the project, that takes time.
Second, Fox doesn’t have the kinds of contracts that restrict actors from making other superhero projects.
Michael B. Jordan is still under contract for Fantastic Four sequels, but is said to be looking at a role in Black Panther. It’s up to debate if those sequels will ever get made, that contract exists and it’s obviously not stopping him from meeting for Panther.
Another example is Ryan Reynolds, who co-starred in X-Men Origins: Wolverine and had an option to get his own film Deadpool with Fox, while developing the solo film under contract he went off to make Green Lantern, nobody at Fox stopped him from doing so.
Even Warner Bros. doesn’t care if their leads make other comic book films, as Dwayne Johnson is set to play Doc Savage in Shane Black’s film for Sony.
Not to say Tatum won’t make another comic book film, he’s already apart of Kingsman: The Golden Circle, but his contract with Fox wouldn’t stop him from making a DC film if that ended-up happening, it’s not an either-or-situation as some would have you believe.
I’ve also checked-in with a Fox source from time to time, who has never mentioned Tatum leaving a possibility since locking-in his producing role on the project has given him a lot of creative say. This led to the hiring of his friend Reid as a screenwriter, he also had input on the hiring of Liman.
UPDATE: Latino Review has word from their own source that Channing Tatum remains committed to Gambit.
Tatum may or may not eventually play a role in the DC cinematic universe, but for the moment zero information supports his leaving Gambit, that is currently only a bad opinion and not even real speculation.