EXCLUSIVE: In a move that makes official that the X-Men character Gambit is getting his own spinoff movie with Channing Tatum as the card-savvy protagonist, Fox has set Robocop scribe Josh Zetumer to write the screenplay. The studio has officially attached Tatum as star, and to produce with his Free Association partner Reid Carolin, The Donners Company’s Lauren Shuler Donner, and Genre Films’ Simon Kinberg.

The screenplay will be based on a treatment penned by legendary Marvel Comics writer Chris Claremont, who with Jim Lee created the character for Marvel in 1990. The storyline is being kept under wraps. The character, which also goes by the name Remy LeBeau, has the ability to charge matter with volatile kinetic energy, causing the object in question to explosively release its charge on impact. The character materialized in a short burst in 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

Tatum and Carolin are currently producing Magic Mike XXL, which was written by Carolin, with Tatum once again starring. Tatum will next be seen starring in Bennett Miller’s Foxcatcher, and he has a headlock on Oscar buzz for his role as Olympic champion wrestler Mark Schultz since that film premiered at Cannes. Zetumer along with Tatum, Carolin and their company are repped by UTA and Management 360.