Now that Rupert Wyatt has vacated the director’s chair on 20th Century Fox’s long-gestating adaptation of Gambit, the studio has reportedly compiled a shortlist of candidates to helm the live-action standalone feature.
Coming by way of Heroic Hollywood, the studio has seemingly narrowed its search down to a trio of potential directors. In accordance with previous reports, Edge of Tomorrow‘s Doug Liman is indeed in contention, with Joe Cornish (Attack the Block) and Shane Black (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Iron Man 3) rounding out the final shortlist.
Out of the trio in question, Shane Black is the busiest of the bunch, putting the final touches to his mystery thriller The Nice Guys. Beyond that, he’s also in line to take the reins of Fox’s Predator reboot, which has languished in development for years at this point. On the other hand, Cornish had a hand in the revised Ant-Man script, though the comedian-cum-director is yet to helm a feature film since Attack the Block in 2011.
It’s for this reason that Liman has fast become the frontrunner of the pack. Not only has Channing Tatum – also serving as producer on Gambit – vouched for the filmmaker, but Liman has displayed a deft touch when blending sci-fi elements with a solid story in Edge of Tomorrow, while flexing his action muscles for The Bourne Identity.
At the time of writing, Channing Tatum is attached to play the title hero, Gambit, alongside Spectre and Blue is the Warmest Color‘s Léa Seydoux. 20th Century Fox has slated the X-Men spinoff for October 7, 2016, meaning we ought to hear word of a director landing the gig sooner rather than later.
