With its new release date, the 'Deadpool' sequel will open one week ahead of 'Solo: A Star Wars Story', while 'Gambit' has its opening date changed after Gore Verbinski's exit.
- Jan 12, 2018
AceShowbiz - "Deadpool" fans must rejoice as its highly-anticipated sequel is coming two weeks earlier than it was initially scheduled. According to a new report from The Hollywood Reporter, "Deadpool 2" is being moved up from June 1 to May 18 by 21th Century Fox.
The new release date puts the Ryan Reynolds-starring antihero flick against Sony Pictures' "Slender Man", and has it opening just one week before Disney's "Solo: A Star Wars Story", which has Alden Ehrenreich attached to play the titular smuggler.
Fox has also changed the release dates of its two other upcoming "X-Men" spin-offs. "The New Mutants", which is directed by Josh Boone, has been pushed back ten months. Originally set to arrive in the United States on April 13 this year, the superhero horror flick starring Anya Taylor-Joy, Maisie Williams and Charlie Heaton is now scheduled for a February 22, 2019 release.
Rumor has it, the studio decided to delay the release of "New Mutant" to avoid having an overlap with "X-Men" movies in certain overseas marketplaces, where it would have been in theaters at the same time with the David Leitch-directed "Deadpool" sequel.
Meanwhile, "Gambit (2019)" has been pushed back four months from February 14, 2019 to June 7. The change comes after the Channing Tatum-led film lost its director. Deadline has reported that Gore Verbinski, who joined the project just three months ago, has dropped out of the solo movie reportedly due to scheduling conflicts.
Verbinski's exit from the "X-Men" spin-off focusing on the card-wielding mutant was "amicable," according to the news outlet. The 53-year-old filmmaker, best known for directing the first three films in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" film saga, is the third director to depart from the project, following Rupert Wyatt ("Rise of the Planet of the Apes") and Doug Liman ("Edge of Tomorrow") in 2016.
Meanwhile, Tatum is still on board to play the titular character, whose alter ego is Remy LeBeau, as the search for a replacement for Verbinski is on. Regarding the release date change, studio insiders believe the film will do better as a summer Marvel movie.
