Why Did ‘Gambit’ Lose Director Rupert Wyatt?
Channing Tatum’sGambitmovie suffered a big blow blow this month whenRupert Wyattabruptlydropped out. At the time the director cited that old standby, scheduling conflicts. However, a new report points to creative differences as the real reason Wyatt left. Basically, he couldn’t get Fox to sign on to his vision. Find out what led to theGambitRupert Wyatt exit after the jump.THR, which got the inside story on theGambitRupert Wyatt exit, stresses that this isn’t a question of Wyatt’s professionalism. “He shows up. He comes early. He stays late. He’s got good ideas,” says a source. However, Wyatt wanted to rewriteGambitand make the world his own, and as the trade puts it, “when a director paints on a big, $100 million-plus canvas, studios want to help pick out the colors.”
Nor are Wyatt’s talents as a director in doubt. HisRise of the Planet of the Apeswas a critically acclaimed hit, and he’s been in high demand for projects likeDawn of the Planet of the Apes,Londongrad, andThe Equalizer. But as you may have guessed by glancing at that list, he’s starting to earn a reputation for dropping out of projects.
In most or all of the cases, it seems, the situation is the same: Wyatt signs on, struggles to convince the studio to back his vision, and walks away. Says one studio exec of Wyatt, “I think he’s a very principled guy. He wants to make the best version of something, and he’s so desperately afraid of making something not good that it’s easier to walk away than be pushed by committee.”
Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, Wyatt’s agent Brian Swardstrom hastens to point out: “Many have ended up in director’s jail when they didn’t walk away, and perhaps they should have.” Indeed, theGambitsituation could’ve been much worse. Better Wyatt and Fox part ways now than try and force two irreconcilable visions to align, withFantastic Four-like results.
As of now, the studio still hasGambitslotted for release onOctober 7, 2016, but the odds of the film actually making that date are getting slimmer. We previously heard script issues were creating budget issues, which in turn may have caused scheduling issues, and at this point it’s not scheduled to start shooting until early spring or so. Fox has yet to announce a replacement director for the movie.
