The Fox Studios Channing Tatum Gambit movie has lost its second director.
Following Ruper Wyatt leaving Gambit, Doug Liman boarded the project, but now Liman has set sail for greener pastures over at Warner Bros. for the DC movie Justice League Dark.
Variety reports Doug Liman left Fox on good terms and it’s considered a mutual split.
The news of Doug Liman departing Gambit shouldn’t be all that surprising as Fox recently yanked Gambit from its release schedule; in addition, Channing Tatum has taken on other projects.
Simon Kinberg recently gave an update on the delayed release of Gambit citing the movie needed more time to develop and to get the tone right (via Slash Film):
I think the truth is when you have these movies that need a very special and unique tone, it takes a little while to find that tone…’Deadpool’ feels like it exploded out of nowhere, but it was a 10-year development process on that movie. I think it was honed over those 10 years.
I hope that ‘Gambit’ doesn’t take 10 years, but it takes a little honing to get that tone and that voice exactly right. The character has such a specific voice in the comic in the same way that ‘Deadpool’ has a specific voice in the comic, that we want to make sure that we capture that voice on the page. Really it’s just about getting a screenplay that is worthy of that character, and I think we’re really close right now.
Gambit was originally going to be released some time in 2018.