'Gambit' Audition Tape Reveals Bella Donna Dialogue

No X-Men film has been shrouded in mystery quite like Gambit, but we may have just gotten a glimpse at one evolution of the film's female lead.

A recently uncovered audition tape for 'Chess', the working title for Gambit, was recently uncovered by Omega Underground. In it, actress Ali Rodney can be shown auditioning for what appears to be the film's female lead, Bella Donna Boudreaux.

Two different scenes are shown on the audition tape, with Bella Donna speaking to Remy LeBeau/Gambit (Channing Tatum). The first scene shows Gambit asking Bella Donna for intel, leading to them playing a game of what's referred to as mental strip poker, while a second scene shows the duo lamenting about their relationship.

In the comics, Bella Donna and Gambit were childhood friends, even though their families came from rival Guilds, Assassins and Thieves, respectively. As they got older a marriage was arranged between the two in hopes of uniting the Guilds. Things got sour when Bella's brother challenges Gambit to a fight to the death. Once Remy won, he got booted from New Orleans and left without Bella Donna.

Rodney's 2016 audition tape is placed at a unique point in Gambit's timeline, in the second major evolution the movie has gone through. After director Rupert Wyatt left the project in 2015, Doug Liman was attached to helm the picture. At the time, Spectre star Lea Seydoux was rumored to play Bella Donna, but she denied those reports months later. The film was stuck in various stages of development hell before Liman left the project in August of 2016.

With Tatum recently revealing that Gambit is starting from scratch, it's safe to assume that this dialogue won't be exactly the same within the film. But the film was recently set for a February 2019 release date, which has led some to speculate that the relationship between Gambit and Bella Donna will have a larger role.

With Gore Verbinski reportedly at the helm, fans can hopefully expect to hear more Gambit updates in the coming months - including who will ultimately play Bella Donna.