Channing Tatum has finalized deal with Gambit

This is kind of funny. A few days ago, several prominent movie websites have reported that Channing Tatum has left the Gambit movie. But what happened here is a case of bad media, passing on a message and having it be re-interpreted badly, so much so that it morphs the original info. One site reported that Tatum's deal with 20th Century Fox may be in danger, then all of a sudden another site reports him to have already left the project. Seems that all these bad news sources have jumped the gun. And just this weekend, a final confirmation has been made; Channing Tatum has already formally closed the deal and agreed that he will indeed become Gambit. [hit the jump to continue]

Initial reports stated that the deal between Channing Tatum and 20th Century Fox is in serious jeopardy and may fall apart. If this happens, the actor will be walking away from his first superhero role - though it's not yet clear if he plans to stay on board as a producer.

This negative news came as incredibly shocking since he’s expressed great interest in this project in the past. The actor has been connected to the project since mid-2014, and came out on stage in Hall H at Comic-Con weeks ago as part of 20th Century Fox’s presentation.

Tatum’s reps have been in active discussions with the studio and it will have to be resolved quickly, as “Gambit” is slated for release on Oct. 7, 2016.

The Wrap (the website where the original info came from) speculated that Tatum’s “larger ambitions” to direct may be factoring into his decision to exit Gambit. In a recent Grantland profile, Gambit co-producer Reid Carolin says he and Tatum are gearing up to make their directorial debut on "Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock", so it’s possible that Tatum may have wanted more time to focus on that.

Getting stuck in a deal with a superhero franchise is not exactly easy for some actors. Tatum was engaging in a bit of public negotiation to resolve some issues regarding the extent of his involvement in Fox’s Marvel universe and his chunk of the backend. No doubt, any actor signing on for this kind of commitment will want to make sure that the deal is to their liking.
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