You know Channing Tatum. He’s the actor of some well-loved classics such as Magic Mike (and its equally magical sequel, Magic Mike XXL), 21 Jump Street and its sequel 22 Jump Street, and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra and its sequel G.I. Joe: Retaliation.
We’ve seen his work and he’s probably seen them, too, but one thing’s for sure: he hasn’t seen any Marvel movies.
In an interview with Variety, Tatum revealed that he has “shut off [his] Marvel machine.”
Here’s how it went down.
In 2016, he and his longtime producer partner Reid Carolin were working on a movie focusing on the X-Men character Gambit. The two were set to direct, and even wrote the script, but it seemed like Twentieth Century Fox wasn’t into the idea. Tatum said, “They wanted anybody but us, essentially, because we had never directed anything.”
Here’s how the actor described their vision of the mutant, which is similar in tone to Deadpool and also has an R rating: “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 sh*t’s just fly, bro! This shit walked down the Paris runway last year.’ He’s just wearing the stuff that’s so dope because he loves fashion.”
Carolin added, “We wanted to make a romantic comedy superhero movie. The thesis was the only thing harder than saving the world is making a relationship work.”
The two already had the cast, the production office, and they were on their way to New Orleans to shoot. Then Disney merged with Fox.
Tatum said, “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.”
Tatum and Carolin still hope that the movie would still get made, but Tatum believes that someone else should direct it.
What do you think? Share your thoughts below!
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