Heroic Hollywood is naming two other genre directors as potential candidates to direct Channing Tatum and Lea Seydoux in their X-Men spin-off Gambit. They are listing along with Doug Liman, Attack The Block‘s Joe Cornish (who got a writing credit on Ant-Man) and Iron Man 3‘s Shane Black are also in the mix to direct.
Doug Liman, has three potential projects in the works with Splinter Cell starring Tom Hardy, along with two developing films with Tom Cruise via Luna and possible sequel to Edge of Tomorrow. He’s also still in post-production on Mena, which could mean he’d be too busy to jump into another film, even if it would only take a year to complete.
Black already has current ties with 20th Century Fox, as he’s co-writing a new Predator sequel for the studio with the assumption he’d direct it. While I think Gambit is a priority for Fox, I think resurrecting the Predator franchise might be slight more important to them in wake of two Alien saga films about to go into production in the next two years. Although, Shane did deliver the largest box office for a solo Marvel film with Iron Man 3 earning over a billion dollars. It might be just appealing enough for the studio to put a hold on Predator for a year or so, to get Gambit in the right position for success. Let’s not forget he knows crime flicks, being the mastermind behind the Lethal Weapon franchise.
Joe on the other hand, isn’t as busy as the other two and could be the more likely of the three to sign-on. Cornish has been linked for other high profile genre directing gigs like Star Trek Beyond, Kong: Skull Island, and A Good Day To Die Hard. He recently won a suit to make his MI6 thriller Section 6, but movement on that hasn’t really go back into motion. His recent links to these big studio projects gives the impression he’s itching to make a studio picture.
Out of the three I think Cornish is least busy and could commit a year to making this film, while the other two are currently in post with recently shot films. Then again, Cornish as pointed out has been linked to plenty of projects only to turn them down.
It’s nice to hear names you’d want to see direct this film, while Rupert Wyatt was always an iffy choice in my opinion. I also wouldn’t be terribly shocked if some of these names are recycled for recently dated sequel to The Kingsman, as the project is without a director currently, but will begin shooting next year.
Gambit is set for release in October 2016.
SOURCE: HEROIC HOLLYWOOD