'Gambit' - An X-Men Spinoff; Channing Tatum to Star

[Walts Ghost]

X-Men Producer Lauren Shuler Donner On A Channing Tatum Gambit Movie

From recent interviews and press conferences, it's clear that Channing Tatum is a big X-Men fan. In particular, he loves Gambit, the charming Cajun card-thrower who starred in the comics, the '90s animated TV series and, unfortunately, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, where he was mangled by a throwaway role for Taylor Kitsch. Now, in our new X-Men: Days Of Future Past issue, we learned from X-Men producer Lauren Shuler Donner that a Tatum-led Gambit movie may be closer than you'd think.

"I'm dying to do a Gambit movie with Channing Tatum," Shuler Donner reveals. "That doesn't have to be a great big movie. It's a thief in New Orleans, it's a whole different story. He's on board, and I have to get the studio on board. How can anyone resist Channing? He's such a sweetheart."

At a White House Down press conference last year, Tatum said, “I would like to play Gambit. Gambit’s my favourite. I’m from New Orleans, around that area. My dad’s from New Orleans, and I like to do a Cajun accent. I could do it for real."

"No knock on Taylor Kitsch, though, ’cause I actually like his Gambit, but I’ve always lived around Cajun people. Gambit was always like the woman-loving, cigarette-smoking, drinking guy. He was the punk rock of all the superheroes. He’s a thief. He kind of rode the line.”

So it sounds like the star and studio are thinking along the same lines, so all they have to do is make schedules line-up for the in-demand Tatum (also working on 22 Jump Street right now, and appearing later this year in Jupiter Ascending and Foxcatcher) and find the script and director to bring it all together. No problem! It's also interesting to see Shuler-Donner, and Fox, plan smaller X-outings between the major X-Men films.

You can find out much more about X-Men: Days Of Future Past (and, for that matter, 22 Jump Street) in the new issue of Empire, out today. To make sure you get the cover you want, browse this gallery below and then head to our subscriptions website, where you can order all the covers individually for a one-off price. New UK subscribers can also get a set of collectible art cards when they take up this offer.

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