Fox Plots ‘Deadpool 3’ With X-Force Characters and ‘X-Men’ Reboot While ‘Gambit’ Remains on Hold
It may be difficult to believe in light of the 2016 election results, but there is other news still happening out there — even in the world of film, which offers a welcome distraction for many right now. And 20th Century Fox is serving up some pretty major news today, with a report that sheds light on the studio’s plans for the future of their expanding X-Men franchise, including Deadpool 3, X-Force and Gambit.
THR has an extensive article on the state of the X-Men franchise, and it features some very interesting developments. First, despite some trouble behind the scenes on Deadpool 2, Fox is already planning the third installment in the series, which will include X-Force characters like Domino and Cable — both of whom are set to appear opposite Ryan Reynolds in Deadpool 2. Although the studio has yet to replace Tim Miller (and Junkie XL, who ditched the project in solidarity), they’re already on the lookout for a director to helm Deadpool 3. With X-Force playing a prominent role in the third film, it seems quite possible that the separate X-Force movie has been nixed for the time being.
As for the X-Men, series writer and producer Simon Kinberg is said to be working on a script for a new sequel without the involvement of Bryan Singer. Per the report, “the reset button has been pressed” on the franchise, and while Jennifer Lawrence, James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender fulfilled their contract commitments with Apocalypse, the studio remains optimistic about their return — which doesn’t necessarily sound like a full-on reboot, though it’s hard to say what the new film will be considering that the crazily inconsistent timeline of the series.
(Singer, meanwhile, is working on a 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea adaptation for Fox, and is attached to helm the long-gestating Queen biopic starring Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury.)
In further news, New Mutants remains on track with director Josh Boone looking to start shooting as early as spring 2017. Several names have been rumored for the X-Men spinoff, including Game of Thrones star Maisie Williams and The Witch’s Anya Taylor-Joy. Last we heard, Boone was re-teaming with The Fault in Our Stars scribes Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber for the project.
And last but not least, there’s Channing Tatum’s Gambit project, which has suffered a few delays, including the loss of director Doug Liman. The report offers a little optimism for the film, which could still begin shooting sometime next year should they find an adequate replacement for Liman. Tatum recently wrapped on Steven Soderbergh’s Logan Lucky, and is set to star in a gender-swapped remake of Splash with Jillian Bell — though that project has yet to officially get going, which leaves some room in Tatum’s schedule for Gambit.