Channing Tatum's Gambit movie was a 'screwball romantic comedy'
Channing Tatum's doomed 'Gambit' movie was a "screwball romantic comedy", according to actress Lizzy Caplan, who had been hired to star alongside him before the film project was axed.
Channing Tatum's doomed 'Gambit' movie was a "screwball romantic comedy", according to actress Lizzy Caplan.
The Hollywood star signed up to play the Marvel superhero in a standalone film with Lizzy starring alongside him as the female lead, but the the production suffered a number of setbacks and delays before ultimately being cancelled in 2019 - and the actress has now admitted she can't understand why it was shelved.
Lizzy told Business Insider: "It was a really cool idea. It’s kind of odd that it got scrapped. Those movies don’t seem to ever get scrapped, but it did."
She went on to add: "We got down the road, we were gonna shoot it,” she continued. “I think there was a start date. I had had meetings with Channing, and there were a couple different … we had a director, then we didn’t, but I had multiple meetings with Channing and the other producers.
"They wanted to do, like, a ’30s kind of screwball romantic comedy set in that world, which would have been really fun."
Channing previously admitted he was devastated when the film got canned, telling Variety: "Once ‘Gambit’ went away, I was so traumatized.
"I shut off my Marvel machine. I haven’t been able to see any of the movies. I loved that character. It was just too sad. It was like losing a friend because I was so ready to play him."
Channing had spent four years attempting to get the film going alongside his 'Magic Mike' writer/producer Reid Carolin, and he previously revealed the character would have been a big fan of fashion,
He added to Variety: "They [the studio] would call him 'flamboyant' in his description. I wouldn’t - he was just the coolest person. He could pull anything off.
"Most superheroes, their outfits are utilitarian. Batman’s got his belt. Gambit’s like, ‘No, this s***'s just fly, bro! This s*** walked down the Paris runway last year.’
"He’s just wearing the stuff that’s so dope because he loves fashion."
However, Channing did eventually get the chance to play Gambit on the big screen as the character was included in 2024 blockbuster 'Deadpool and Wolverine' and the actor admitted it was a dream come true to finally step into the shoes of the character he loved.
In a post on social media, Channing thanked 'Deadpool' star Ryan Reynolds for bringing Gambit back and giving him the chance to finally play him on screen.
He wrote: " I can say that there is almost no one that has had my back in this industry more than [Reynolds].
"I thought I had lost Gambit forever. But [Reynolds] fought for me and Gambit. I will owe him probably forever. Cause I’m not sure how I could ever do something that would be equal to what this has meant to me.
"I love ya buddy … I’m so grateful to be in this movie. It’s a masterpiece in my opinion. And just pure bad a** joy. I was literally screaming in the theater."
