November 12, 2015
By Boris Kit
After losing original director Rupert Wyatt and with an October 7, 2016, release looming like a hangman, Fox has furiously met with filmmakers to hop on board to direct the X-Men spin-off Gambit.
The name the studio has found is a surprising one: Doug Liman.
Liman is in final negotiations to direct the comic book movie after a several rounds of meetings, including one that took place Thursday.
Liman certainly knows his way around action movies. He last directed the well-regarded sci-fi action movie Edge of Tomorrow, which starred Tom Cruise. He is also known for directing Mr. & Mrs. Smith and The Bourne Identity, two massive hits, commercially and critically.
But those two movies are also famously known for having been troubled productions, with the films needing to be saved in post-production. Fox distributed 2005’s Smith, while Stacey Snider, now co-chairman of Fox, was the chairman of Universal who oversaw the tumultuous making of 2002’s Bourne.
Still, Liman has had time to mend relations. He just wrapped Mena, a 1980s drug cartel drama that reteams him with Cruise and will be distributed by Universal.