Channing Tatum is reportedly being considered for his own solo "X-Men" movie as the mutant Gambit, a charming thief who plays by his own rules.
"X-Men" producer Lauren Shuler Donner told Empire magazine the "21 Jump Street" actor is incredibly interested in portraying the character, but Warner Bros. needs a little more convincing.
"I'm dying to do a Gambit movie with Channing Tatum," Donner told Empire. "That doesn't have to be a great big movie. It's a thief in New Orleans, it's a whole different story. He's on board, and I have to get the studio on board. How can anyone resist Channing? He's such a sweetheart."
According to Empire, the actor revealed his love for Gambit during a press conference last year for "White House Down".
"I would like to play Gambit. Gambit's my favourite. I'm from New Orleans, around that area. My dad's from New Orleans, and I like to do a Cajun accent. I could do it for real," Tatum explained during the press conference.
"No knock on Taylor Kitsch, though, 'cause I actually like his Gambit, but I've always lived around Cajun people," the actor added. "Gambit was always like the woman-loving, cigarette-smoking, drinking guy. He was the punk rock of all the superheroes. He's a thief. He kind of rode the line."
Marvel hasn't confirmed a Gambit film just yet, but it could make for an interesting movie.
In other Marvel news, Empire also released 25 covers featuring new characters from "X-Men: Days Of Future Past" characters. One of the covers revealed Rogue (Anna Paquin), a character that reportedly was cut from the film. Director Bryan Singer and writer Simon Kinberg explained the truth behind the report to Empire.
"It was one real sequence in the movie," Kinberg said. "We felt like it was taking tension out of the main story drive."
"It does not mean that we won't see her in the film," Singer added. "Also, I hope to make the sequence available on the DVD as she was quite wonderful in it. She is an important part of the X-Men family. I'm very pleased she will remain as one of Empire's anniversary covers."
