The film Gambit is set to start filming in New Orleans on June 19 and plans on being in theaters by June 7, 2019. However, it has taken the film a while to even get to this point.
Gambit is a character from the popular comic book series X-Men, which features a group of mutant superheroes. Gambit, whose real name is Remy LeBeau, is a mutant who comes from New Orleans, talks with a Cajun accent, and uses his power to fire off playing cards. The character has been intended to be a part of the X-Men film franchise since 2003’s X2, but hadn’t appeared in any film until 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine, played by Taylor Kitsch.
The film was supposed to be used as a jumping off to highlight other characters for potential spin-offs such as Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool and Taylor Kitsch’s Gambit. However, the film didn’t perform as expected and halted these plans. Plans began to come back into the spotlight after Channing Tatum expressed interest in taking on the role. With their leading actor set, all that had to be done was find a director.
The first director attached to the project was Rupert Wyatt, director of 2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes, who signed on in 2015. The film was initially given a budget of $154 million, most of which would be spent in New Orleans. However, plans fell apart after Wyatt left due to scheduling conflicts.
The next director attached was Doug Liman, director of 2002’s The Bourne Identity and 2014’s Edge of Tomorrow, who joined in late 2015. Things were looking up as a change was happening to the X-Men franchise with the release of the R-rated Deadpool movie. However, Liman decided to leave in favor of other projects.
The latest director associated with the film was Gore Verbinski, director of the first three Pirates of the Caribbean movies and 2013’s The Lone Ranger, who joined in 2017. At the time, the film had been given a February 14, 2019 release date and filming was to begin in March of 2018. But, it didn’t happen. Verbinski dropped out due to scheduling conflicts and creative differences with the film currently having no director.
The film is set to begin filming in June as long as a director is found in time. However, after almost five years of pre-production, whether the film will ever come out is a gamble.
