A couple of weeks ago, the upcoming Gambit suffered the latest in a long line of delays, reinvigorating the ongoing question of whether this mutant rom-com will ever see the light of day. And while X-Men producer Simon Kinberg continues to insist that it will, he at least gets why so many of us have our doubts.
Speaking to Collider, the director of next year’s Dark Phoenix said that he understands how people are seeing red flags in the whole Gambit situation.
“So Gambit became something different over the span of developing it with Channing, with his partner Reid [Carolin], with Josh Zetumer the screenwriter. It is something that we intend to make but listen I’m Jewish, so my expectation for everything is I don’t believe anything until it’s out in movie theaters. So I share your cynicism generally, but in this particular case we’re working very hard to get the movie going.”
Honestly, it would be a lot easier to buy that things were moving forward with the project if the rest of X-Men franchise wasn’t in such disarray right now. While Kinberg’s own Dark Phoenix certainly seems a lot closer than Gambit to making it to cinemas, it too has suffered its share of delays, while reports around The New Mutants suggest that the upcoming horror film is having an identity crisis behind the scenes.
Meanwhile, though things appear to be going more smoothly so far for the planned X-Force, even the film’s director seems uncertain of how the impending Disney-Fox deal could effect the Deadpool spinoff. And speaking of which, while Kinberg says that things are staying “business as usual” at Fox despite this merger, you have to wonder how long Gambit can be delayed for before it gets dropped in favor of whatever Disney has in mind for this franchise.
In short, Kinberg is all too right that people are feeling cynical about Gambit, but if the team actually pulls this off, then you could be seeing Channing Tatum wielding the patented staff in cinemas from March 13th, 2020.