Comics
Gore Verbinski No Longer Directing ‘X-Men’ Spinoff ‘Gambit’
With Twentieth Century Fox going dark with their X-Men spinoff, New Mutants, I had a lot of hope for their other spinoff, the long-gestured Gambit.
Not only was it going to give one of the coolest X-Men characters his own movie, but it was going to be directed by the outstanding Gore Verbinski (who directed both The Ring remake and the first and only good Pirates of the Caribbean). Unfortunately, THR confirmed today that Verbinski is no longer directing and the studio is now seeing a new filmmaker to bring the character to live.
Verbinski is just one of a number of directors who come and gone on the project. Verbinski joined the movie in October following departures of Rupert Wyatt in October 2015 and Doug Liman in August 2016.
Even with no director, Channing Tatum is still attached to star as the New Orleans-based mutant known for throwing cards and manipulating kinetic energy.
Fox has previously set a date of Feb. 14, 2019, for the film, which does have a script by Josh Zetumer. A March shoot was in the cards (no pun intended), but it looks like things will be shifting to a later date.
As much as I love Taylor Kitsch, he was completely miscast as Remy LeBeau in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. With that said, it would be great to see Wolverine/Logan appear in the film, if not Bishop.
What do you guys think?
The supernatural world of Korean folk horror movie Exhuma grows larger with the arrival of prequel spinoff webtoon Maengjong this weekend, Variety reports today.
Naver Webtoon debuts Maengjong on May 30.
The series hails from Haemuri (Olgami) and will trace the high school origins of how shaman duo Hwarim and Bonggil, played by Kim Go-eun and Lee Do-hyun in the 2024 film, came together to face occultish threats.
The story is set to begin when “Hwarim, who has been concealing her identity following a childhood encounter with a snake spirit called Jin, crosses paths with Bonggil at their school.”
Variety notes that Exhuma director Jang Jae-hyun participated in the project’s early concept stage.
“We are presenting ‘Maengjong,’ a new series capturing the appeal of the horror-occult genre, ahead of the full summer season,” said Lee Jeong-geun, Naver Webtoon’s Korea webtoon content leader. “With the high school story of Hwarim and Bonggil, who left a strong impression in the film ‘Exhuma,’ enhanced by Haemuri’s characteristic tense direction, we expect it will be a welcome work for genre fans.”
“It is meaningful that the spin-off story of ‘Exhuma,’ loved by many audiences, expands by meeting the new grammar of webtoon,” said Lee Hyeon-jeong, managing director of the film business division at Showbox, which distributed the film. “We hope it will be a fresh experience for both film fans and webtoon readers.”
Exhuma was a breakout hit in 2024, becoming the first Korean occult film to surpass 10 million ticket buyers and the country’s highest-grossing film of the year. I wrote in my review that “the intricately woven Exhuma delivers one of the year’s biggest surprises in horror so far.”
The bond between Hwarim and Bonggil was one of the film’s highlights, making this prequel webtoon a must for fans.
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