Rupert Wyatt Reveals His GAMBIT Movie Would Have Been A GODFATHER-Inspired Mob Period Piece, More

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In the past, I’ve referred to the hypothetical Channing Tatum-led Gambit solo movie as The Thing That Will Not Die, but with the merger between Disney and 20th Century Fox Studios wrapping up next week, I think it’s a safe guess that fans will be kept waiting for quite awhile before the beloved card-playing mutant from Louisana gets his own solo film in the MCU. That said, this solo film once had quite a lot of potential a few years ago back when filmmakers such as Rise of the Planet of the Apes director Rupert Wyatt, as well as Gore Verbinski and Doug Liman were attached to the film at different points.

In a new interview with Collider, Wyatt provided details on what his Gambit film would have been like had things worked out and also explained why he departed from the project.

Wyatt explained:

“Fantastic Four came out, did not do very well for Fox, [and] they decided to lower our budget. We were 12 weeks out, we couldn’t recover. The script needed a huge amount of rewriting in order to fit that budget, and ultimately the powers that be chose not to go down that road, so the film didn’t happen. And then of course whatever happened after me with other directors, I have no idea. What I do know is that Channing Tatum and his producing partner Reid Carolin had an amazing idea of what that movie was going to be, and Josh Zeutemer, the writer, as well. It was terrific, it was a really exciting sort of Godfather with mutants set in the world of New Orleans with different gangs…

… Yeah [a heist film] of a sort. I mean it was a period film. It dealt with the 70s up until the present day. It was about kind of mutant gangs and the notion of what it means to belong, tribalism in this bayou-like environment. The swamps of New Orleans. So it would’ve been a lot of fun. I know Channing sort of worked on the script to make it into more of a romantic comedy, I think. Which I read and it was great, it was very different to what I was involved in. But now Disney have the reins so I don’t know what their plans are.”

Maybe I haven’t read enough Gambit comics to really see why Wyatt would think of looking at a gangster film such as The Godfather for influence, but his pitch is certainly unique! Had the film been made, I think Wyatt could have done something really intriguing with the idea of mutant gangs in the bayou.

That said, I absolutely respect Wyatt’s additional explanation for his departure from the film in 2015, that if they had tried to rush the film without having “their ducks in a row, they’ll throw it at the wall and they’ll then realize it’s not sticking, and they’ll then spend the $150 million to get it right.”

What do you think? Be sure to comment below!

SOURCE: Collider