Gambit Secures New Filming Start Date; Director Announcement Imminent?

For Gambit, there may well be light at the end of the tunnel after all.

According to Omega Underground’s sources, filming on the Remy LeBeau spinoff movie is now expected to get going on June 19th in New Orleans, Louisiana, which is also set to play host to Captain Marvel in the coming months.

This tells us that 20th Century Fox is finally – finally – ready to spearhead the troubled production after it was placed on ice soon after the departure of Gore Verbinski, who became the third director to walk away from the X-Men solo flick after Rupert Wyatt and Doug Liman (Edge of Tomorrow 2). Perhaps we’ll hear word of Verbinski’s replacement sooner rather than later?

Channing Tatum, meanwhile, remains attached to the title character, whose standalone pic has been described as “having a heavy comedic tone revolving around a heist, [and] will do better as a summer Marvel movie.”

Elsewhere on the scant casting docket, Lizzy Caplan (Masters of Sex) recently clinched Gambit‘s female lead, and though 20th Century Fox stopped short of mentioning specifics, budding fans have already linked Caplan’s casting with the seemingly vacant role of Bella Donna. Prior to the film’s well-documented production woes, rumors began to circulate that Léa Seydoux (Spectre) had been offered the part.

Alas, those plans quickly unraveled, leading many to assume that Lizzy Caplan has now stepped into the role briefly occupied by Seydoux. All we need now is for 20th Century Fox to break its silence and announce Gambit‘s new director. That June 7th, 2019 release date is still in place, meaning the Channing Tatum-led spinoff currently finds itself between Dark Phoenix and The New Mutants. No pressure, then.