Gambit is an unproduced American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. It was intended to be an installment of the X-Men film series. Before its cancellation, the film had been written by Josh Zetumer based on a story by the character's creator Chris Claremont. Channing Tatum was set to star in the title role.
Tatum was looked at for early attempts to include Gambit in the X-Men films but was not available for that character's film introduction in X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009). Taylor Kitsch portrayed the character instead, but was not well received. Producer Lauren Shuler Donner expressed interest in a Gambit film starring Tatum in early 2014, and the actor officially signed on that May. The film had been in development hell since then, with Rupert Wyatt, Doug Liman, and Gore Verbinski attached as director to the film at different times over the years, with Tatum and his producing partner Reid Carolin also lobbying to direct, and the film's release date also pushed back numerous times. Gambit was scheduled for release on March 13, 2020, but development of the film was placed on hold due to the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney. After taking over the film, Disney officially cancelled it in May 2019.
Early development
For the 2003 film X2, director Bryan Singer asked stunt double James Bamford to film a short cameo as the character Gambit. The scene was ultimately cut from the film, and Bamford believed that a better known actor would be cast in the role for any future appearance. Singer wanted the character to have a large part in the sequel, X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), with Keanu Reeves in the role, but ultimately did not return to direct that film. A new writing team of Simon Kinberg and Zak Penn were set to write the sequel's screenplay by 20th Century Fox after Singer's departure, and though the pair wanted to include the character, they felt there was only room for a cameo appearance given the number of new characters more relevant to the film's storylines. They decided to save Gambit for a larger role in a future film. Before that decision was made, Josh Holloway had been looked at for the part but was unavailable due to the filming schedule of his series Lost. Channing Tatum was then chosen for the role, but the character was written out of the script before he was officially cast.
By October 2007, Gambit was believed to be appearing in the spin-off film X-Men Origins: Wolverine, set for release in 2009. Tatum was unable to re-commit to the part at that time because of scheduling conflicts with G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009), and Taylor Kitsch was ultimately cast in the role. Kitsch signed a three-picture deal. Fox executive Jeff Katz was confident that the character would be well received, saying, "there is a level of strategy in how we grow these things, and what characters can transition between multiple films", indicating that the character could move on to his own standalone film as was the plan with Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool. However, Wolverine was not well received by critics, and Kitsch's performance did not make him the breakout hit that Fox executives had expected. In September 2013, Tatum expressed interest in taking over the role from Kitsch, saying, "Gambit's my favorite. I’m from New Orleans, around that area. My dad's from New Orleans, and I like to do a Cajun accent. I could do it for real. No knock on Taylor Kitsch, though, ’cause I actually like his Gambit, but I’ve always lived around Cajun people ... Gambit was always like the woman-loving, cigarette-smoking, drinking [guy]. He was the punk rock of all the superheroes."