After months of publicly sucking up to producers, Channing Tatum has finally been granted his wish. Total Film confirmed last night that the Magic Mike star has landed the role of Remy LeBeau (alias Gambit) in an upcoming X-Men movie.

Tatum has been gunning for the role since at least last year, and reports emerged last month that he was in serious talks with X-Men producers to take on the mutant superhero in an upcoming film. For her part, producer Lauren Shuler-Donner has long sought Tatum for the role as well, and the stars have finally aligned. Confirming the casting, Shuler-Donner told Total Film:

It is Channing, yes, yes. He's a rogue, he's a rascal, just like Remy LeBeau. He can handle the action, as we know, and he's got a real good heart, I know him personally. He'll be great for Gambit, and he's a southerner too, he understands that world, and you know Gambit loves New Orleans.

This may be good news for fans of 21 Jump Street, but beefcake alternative Taylor Kitsch is probably not amused. Kitsch played the role in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and by many accounts he was the one shining light in that forgettable turdball of a film. But after back-to-back starring turns in the well-known turdballs John Carter and Battleship, the once well-regarded Kitsch, through no fault of his own, has come to be regarded as box-office cyanide. He's unlikely to be seen in a major action role any time soon.

So instead we get Tatum with what is hopefully not a completely awful Cajun accent. His first take on the energy-manipulating charmer will be in either X-Men: Apocalypse (an '80s-set sequel to Days of Future Past) or a standalone Gambit movie.

[Image via AP]