Is Edge of Tomorrow director Doug Liman perfect for the X-Men universe? Channing Tatum seems to think so. He's going after the filmmaker with the hopes that he'll helm the upcoming Gambit spinoff. Despite a few hurtles on the way to production, 20th Century Fox still plans to release this solo adventure in October, making it the third X-Men movie to arrive in 2016, following Deadpool in February and X-Men: Apocalypse in May.

Gambit has never seemed to be standing on firm ground. Before Channing Tatum officially signed on, it sounded like the whole project might collapse. And it took forever to lock down a director. Rupert Wyatt eventually came on board, but the Rise of the Planet of the Apes and The Gambler director bailed siting creative differences. Soon after, it was speculated that the movie might get delayed until 2017. Channing Tatum, who is producing as well as starring in the lead, doesn't want to see that happen though. And is working hard to convince Doug Liman to sign on, according to The InSneider.

Doug Liman is best known for directing Tom Cruise in the sci-fi thriller Edge of Tomorrow, and the two recently re-teamed on the drug dramedy Mena. With an October 2016 release date in place, you can bet that a production start date is happening soon. If Doug Liman takes the job, we should hear about before the weekend. At this time, it isn't know if the director is even considering the option, or how deep into talks he may be.

A previous insider's report concluded that creative differences was only scratching the surface of the issues Rupert Wyatt had with this X-Men franchise installment. Apparently, the director and studio could not agree on how to bring Gambit back to the big screen after the popular Cajun mutant was first introduced in 2009's X-Men Origins: Wolverine. In that spinoff, the Marvel character was played by Taylor Kitsch. 20th Century Fox already had a very negative experience with director Josh Trank on the Fantastic Four reboot, and didn't want to travel down the same road a second time while trying to build their own version of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

X-Men: Apocalypse will bring the six film X-Men Hexalogy established by Bryan Singer to a close, with Gambit the first to arrive in the Post-Apocalypse X-Men landscape. It will help establish a new take on the X-Men universe, helping to push the franchise in a new direction. And everyone currently involved in the project knows how important that is to get it right. Is Doug Liman a step in the right direction? We'll surely know soon if Fox is still intent on keeping that release date.