Gambit Production Start Has Been Put On Hold

The licks keep coming for Fox’s Gambit solo movie, as the project’s production start has been put on hold once again. Development hell is nothing new for superhero films, as Hollywood is littered with cancelled comic book movies. But even with the success Fox has had with their X-Men franchise and having a star like Channing Tatum attached hasn’t been enough to get Gambit off the ground. Instead, the film has spent years gaining and losing release dates and looking less like the next Deadpool and more like the abandoned Magneto spinoff.

After multiple director losses, Gore Verbinski left Gambit recently and once again put the film’s status in question. Naturally, this meant that the somewhat premature release date the film had was pushed back. Gambit‘s new release date will see it arrive next summer, just a few months after The New Mutants updated debut. We’ve been expecting March to be when Gambit begins filming in New Orleans, but unsurprisingly the behind-the-scenes issues have complicated the production start.

Omega Underground is reporting that production for Gambit has been put on hold. The original March shooting start has been taken off the books in New Orleans, with no indication of when things will finally get going. Of course, with no director for the film, that’s hardly a surprise.

Gambit 6 2005 Cover Marvel Comics Motorcycle Gambit Production Start Has Been Put On Hold
Thanks to the summer release date, Gambit does have a few more months to land a director and start rolling cameras. Production for superhero films usually takes around a year minimum, so Gambit is still safe as long as things come together soon. DC’s Flash movie has suffered similar issues but Flashpoint gained the Spider-Man: Homecoming writers as directors. If that much-beleaguered film can finally get going, then perhaps there’s hope for Gambit as well.

It’s also possible the shake-up in production could see Gambit be scaled back a bit. We heard recently that Gambit has a massive budget far exceeding films like Deadpool and Logan. Considering the character is fairly obscure and his world is typically more grounded and less concerned with Earth-shattering events, this raised some eyebrows amongst fans. With so many bigger directors out, the person who finally takes charge of Gambit may be a smaller director better suited for the project. If so, we could see the budget brought down which should help with the film’s issues. After all, if the production problems translate to poor reception at the box office, it’s better to have a smaller budget to make back. Regardless of what the future holds for Gambit, expect more news on its production to arrive soon.