Edge of Tomorrow director signing on for Gambit

Gambit has had its share of problems: when Rise of the Planet of the Apes director Rupert Wyatt left the project earlier this year, lead star Channing Tatum came close to quitting too. But now the film may have a saviour: Doug Liman, who was one of the directors the studio was courting.

The Hollywood Reporter reports the news that Liman is very close to making a deal with 20th Century Fox to direct Gambit, which will be a solo reboot of the character who appeared on-screen in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, played by Taylor Kitsch (and nothing to do with the Colin Firth caper of the same name, mercifully). This is excellent news: Liman made Edge of Tomorrow and The Bourne Identity, both cracking modern action classics; surely he can do the same for the X-Men universe?

If Liman is definitely directing Gambit, production best start soon, as its release date of October 7, 2016 isn’t that far away.