Back in January 2015, 20th Century Fox handed out an October 7, 2016 release date for its upcoming X-Men spinoff Gambit, which has Channing Tatum attached to star as the title character. We reported last month that production on this superhero adventure won't begin until March, leading many to believe that the studio will eventually push its fall release date. Over the weekend, the BoxOffice.com Twitter feed revealed that the studio has in fact taken it out of the October 7 release date, although they haven't issued a new date at this time.
Gambit was set to go up against Warner Bros.' The Accountant, Fox Searchlight's Sundance sensation The Birth of a Nation, Universal's The Girl on the Train and Lionsgate's Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life. Channing Tatum is currently the only cast member officially attached, but we should be getting more casting updates soon as we get closer to the March production start. The studio also wasted no time by moving another project into the vacated October 7, 2016 release slot, but we don't quite know what it will be yet.
The studio pushed an untitled Fox/Marvel movie into the October 7, 2016 slot, while issuing a January 12, 2018 date for another untitled Fox/Marvel project. It's certainly possible that one of these dates could be reserved for Deadpool 2, which the studio recently gave the green light to in the wake of Deadpool's massive box office success. The studio hasn't issued an official date for that sequel yet, so we'll have to wait and see. Also opening on January 12, 2018 is Paramount's Gnomeo & Juliet: Sherlock Gnomes and Warner Bros.' Untitled Blade Runner Project.
The studio has also moved Alien: Covenant from October 6, 2017 to August 4, 2017, while giving Shane Black's Predator remake a March 2, 2018 date. The Predator project doesn't have any direct competition in its new date, but Alien: Covenant will face Universal's Pitch Perfect 3 and Open Road Films' Blazing Samurai on August 4, 2017. It remains to be seen if any of the other studios will shift their release schedule accordingly in the wake of these new dates.
Finally, 20th Century Fox has moved Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children from Christmas Day 2016 to September 30, 2016, where it will face STX Entertainment's Besties, Lionsgate's Deepwater Horizon, High Top Releasing's Delirium and Relativity's Masterminds. It has also moved Ferdiannd from April 7, 2017 to July 21, 2017, Why Him? to Christmas Day, from November 11, 2016) and taken The Mountain Between Us off of its schedule. What do you think about these release date changes?