It looks as though we’re gonna have to be waiting a bit longer (again) on thatGambitmovie. While 20th Century Fox finally looked to pull the trigger on the long-awaited spinoff withChanning Tatumattached to star in and produce the pic, finding a director for the project proved difficult as its planned October 2016 loomed closer.Rise of the Planet of the ApeshelmerRupert Wyatteventually signed on to direct, but thendepartedthe project a few months later,starting the director search anew. That’s whenEdge of TomorrowandThe Bourne IdentitydirectorDoug Limansigned on, but now as further script development has already scrapped the October 2016 release date, filming—which was originally supposed to get underwayin New Orleans this month—is being pushed back all the way to the end of 2016 while work continues.
In the meantime, Liman is aiming to keep busy, andTHRreports that he’s now in negotiations to direct the small-scale psychological thrillerThe Wallfor Amazon Studios. The film revolves around a sniper and his spotter who are pinned down behind cover by a legendary sniper, and its script was penned byDwain Worrell, who wrote the screenplay on spec while teaching English in China and submitted it blindly when he heard Amazon was accepting open submissions.
Liman plans to knock the film out with filming starting in late spring/early summer before then returning to pre-production onGambit, while Tatum’s producing partner andMagic MikescribeReid Carolinis handling rewrites on theX-Menspinoff. ProducerSimon Kinbergpreviously described the picture as a"sexy heist thriller,‘but it’s unclear if the rewrites have to do with finding the right tone or if they’re plot/character-centric. And while a casting search finally nabbedLea Seydouxas the film’s female lead, Belladonna, THR notes that her involvement in the picture is unclear given that it’s been pushed back so significantly.
Clearly Fox is still keen on makingGambithappen, and it appears as though Liman is as well, but it sounds like all involved want to get the script in top shape before moving forward. Fox is no doubt hammering out the details onDeadpool 2and theX-Menfranchise will likely continue afterX-Men: Apocalypse, but as of now it looks like the studio may suffer a bit of a lull in terms of superhero films given that these pictures are still deep in development, andFantastic Fourdidn’t pan out as expected.
As for Liman, he’s already got another film in the can, the drug thrillerMenastarringTom CruiseandDomhnall Gleeson, which is set for release in January 2017, and he, Cruise, and screenwriterChristopher McQuarriehave been actively developing anEdge of Tomorrowsequel. The guy stays busy.
