Entertainment Weekly is reporting that English director Rupert Wyatt has been tapped by 20th Century Fox to helm the X-Men solo reboot/spin-off movie Gambit, which will star Channing Tatum as the title anti-hero Remy LeBeau.

Wyatt is best known to genre fans for resurrecting Fox’s stagnant “Planet of the Apes” franchise with 2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes, but even more appropriately he helmed last year’s The Gambler, which ties into Gambit’s affinity for playing cards. High-profile helmers Bennett Miller and Darren Aronofsky were previously approached for the project but passed.

Tatum recently spoke about playing the The Ragin’ Cajun, describing the film as an unconventional origin story and the character of Remy himself as, “kind of a tortured soul and he’s not a good guy. But he’s not a bad guy, either. He walks his own path. And of course he plays cards and drinks and is a martial-arts badass!”

With a screenplay by Josh Zetumer (RoboCop), Gambit will be produced by Tatum and his creative partner Reid Carolin, along with “X-Men” franchise stewards Simon Kinberg and Lauren Shuler Donner. It is scheduled for release October 7, 2016.

(Photo Credit: WENN)