Now that ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ has been released, 20th Century Fox has shifted the focus of their Marvel mutant movies to the upcoming spinoffs scheduled over the course of the next few years. Hugh Jackman’s final round as Wolverine is currently shooting, while it’s only a matter of time before we hear about a ‘Deadpool’ sequel thanks to the success of the long-awaited first installment. But what about the other X-projects in development like ‘Gambit’ starring Channing Tatum and ‘New Mutants’ from ‘The Fault In Our Stars’ director Josh Boone? Well, a very small update regarding those two films have surfaced just to remind you that they’re still a thing.
At the 2016 Saturn Awards, That Hashtag Show was able to talk briefly with writer/producer Simon Kinberg and Psylocke herself Olivia Munn about all things X-Men. But while speaking with Kinberg, he gave some quick status reports on both ‘Gambit’ and ‘New Mutants’. You can check out what he had to say in the video below:
Previously, Remy LeBeau’s solo feature experienced some setbacks. After Doug Liman signed on to replace Rupert Wyatt as the director, Liman signed on to helm Lionsgate and Summit Entertainment’s adaptation of the young adult novel ‘Chaos Walking’. With that film set to begin shooting in the fall, many assumed that the Ragin’ Cajun had lost another director. However, if what Kinberg said is accurate, then it appears that the studio is waiting until Liman is available in spring 2017 and aiming for one of the 2018 dates that Fox put aside for a Marvel movie. Based on older reports that said that the script for ‘Gambit’ needed a bit of tweaking, this is just all around good news. That is, unless you’re still not happy with Tatum playing the fan favorite character.
As for ‘New Mutants’, Kinberg gave us even less about that project than he did with ‘Gambit’. After discussing the film’s target audience, he shared that Boone’s script is “very loyal to the comics” and that production may start “sometime real soon”. Sorry if you were looking for confirmation on the line-up of the team, but at least the gears are turning and it isn’t just sitting on the shelf for a while like ‘Deadpool’ did.
Are you glad that ‘Gambit’ is waiting for Doug Liman to become available before going into production? Which members of the team do you think will make the jump from the page to the screen in ‘New Mutants’? Or which characters that we’ve seen already (other than Professor X) do you think will form the cinematic version of the team? Let us know what you think in the comments.
Despite being a “professional writer”, Ben likes run-on sentences far too much. For more of his attempts at being funny and the occasional insightful thought, follow him on Twitter and Instagram.
