Gambit: Doug Liman and Joe Cornish in the running to direct Channing Tatum in upcoming movie

Ever since Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes' Rupert Wyatt ditched the project back in September, 20th Century Fox has been on the hunt for a director to helm its upcoming Marvel character film, Gambit. Nothing is set in stone yet, but according to Heroic Hollywood, the studio heads have their eyes on three potential candidates: Doug Liman, Joe Cornish and Shane Black.

Earlier this week, it was widely reported that lead actor Channing Tatum has been professionally courting Edge Of Tomorrow director Liman in the hope that he will come aboard, so it would appear he was the front runner. But Black (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) who is also a candidate for the job, has the added bonus of being well practised when it comes to helming comic-book movies, having captained Marvel's Iron Man 3 in 2013. Cornish also has experience with all things Marvel, having recently written the screenplay to this year's Ant-Man. So, it's safe to say that at the moment, it's anyone's game.

Around the time of his exit, it was alleged that the reason behind Wyatt's leaving was Fox getting involved in the "grand" creative decisions he wanted to make with the film. Talking to The Hollywood Reporter, a source previously stated: "Wyatt wanted to rewrite the movie, and make the world his own. But when a director paints on a big, $100m-plus canvas, studios want to help pick out the colours."

A studio executive of Wyatt's later elaborated, saying: "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."

With a scheduled release date of October 2016, Gambit can't afford any more setbacks, so it's understandable that they're considering the next appointed director carefully. Aside from the crew side of things, at the moment, Gambit only has one confirmed cast member and that's Magic Mike star Tatum, so actors will soon need to be hired too as superhero movies are notorious for their long post-production processes because of CGI etc.

French actress Léa Seydoux, who can be seen in the latest James Bond instalment, Spectre, is rumoured to featured in the movie. She has been tipped as appearing as the female lead opposite Tatum. RoboCop screenwriter Joshua Zetumer is currently set to pen the script and X-Men: Days Of Future Past's Lauren Shuler Donner and Simon Kinberg will produce alongside Tatum.