‘Gambit’ Movie Is Going to Be a Romantic Comedy

With 20th Century Fox‘s plans for the X-Men franchise coming under the wire as Disney’s purchase is finalized, many fans are wondering if the long-planned, oft-delayed Gambit movie is actually in the works. It turns out that Channing Tatum‘s superhero movie is not dead yet.

Producer Simon Kinberg recently teased the project’s development, revealing a surprising direction for the tone and genre of Gambit that might perplex some fans.

“When you look at Gambit, he’s a hustler and a womanizer and we just felt like there was an attitude, a swagger to him, that lent itself to romantic comedy,” Kinberg recently told IGN.

This is a surprising statement from Kinberg, who is the steward of the X-Men franchise as well as the writer and director of X-Men: Dark Phoenix. Given that Gambit has gone through multiple directors — including Doug Liman and Gore Verbinski — and they have yet to get anyone to commit to the project, it’s surprising that they’re already committed to a direction.

But Kinberg assured that fans shouldn’t take too much stock in his statement, as the film will still be an X-Men movie.

“You know, when I say romantic comedy, I use that term loosely, in the same term that I use the term western for Logan loosely,” Kinberg said. “It’s not like they’re gunslingers at high noon in Logan. It’s just a vibe. And I would say the vibe of Gambit has a romantic or sex comedy vibe to it. While it is also still very much a superhero movie with villains and heroes, as all these movies are.”

Of course, some fans might assume all of these plans could be moot with the impending sale of 20th Century Fox and its intellectual property. Walt Disney Company chairman Bob Iger has already stated that the Marvel properties currently belonging to Fox, including the X-Men and the Fantastic Four, will go under the banner of Marvel Studios when the purchase is finalized.

And though that purchase is set to be finalized sometime in the first half of 2019, Kinberg and Fox are moving forward; business as usual.

“Gambit has a great script and we’re looking to start that movie early next year,” Kinberg said.

We’ll see if it comes together, and we’ll find out if Gambit’s first solo film will be under the banner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, in the coming months.