No, Channing Tatum is not pulling out of Gambit

Earlier this week, reports surfaced that 20th Century Fox’s plans for the X-Men spinoff were on shaky ground when the studio hit a snag in negotiations with lead actor Channing Tatum. Whether or not Tatum agreed to a multi-picture deal was not disclosed, however.

Contradicting rumors earlier this week that Tatum had walked away from a Gambit solo movie, the Magic Mike and 21 Jump Street actor will indeed bring Remy LeBeau to life as planned. Today, however, 20th Century Fox announced that it has come to an agreement with Tatum that will ensure his involvement in the film. Fox sees Tatum’s Gambit, a mutant who harnesses kinetic energy, as one of the anchor characters of the X-universe, akin to Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, someone who would anchor his own movies and appear in numerous others. Jackman’s been strapping on the claws for more than 15 years now, and while he openly praises Wolverine as the best role of his career, there’s no denying the huge amount of work and devotion it’s required. But what was holding the deal back was figuring out just how involved Tatum would be in the rest of the X-Men universe, as well as a backend deal for compensation (the latter is likely the more key culprit). “We kind of want to introduce this character in a very different way”.

The Gambit film is set to be directed by Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’ Rupert Wyatt, based on a treatment by original Gambit creator Chris Claremont and a screenplay by Josh Zetumer.

On a larger scale, this is a big knock to the expansion of the X-Men franchise.