After nearly departing from the title role, Channing Tatum is officially signed on for Gambit. During Tatum’s negotiations, Lea Seydoux (Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Spectre) was in talks to play the female lead, though who the character was and her connection to Gambit, was a bit unclear. But with everything squared away, and a start date looming, the testing phase for other characters can begin, and it looks like director Rupert Wyatt has narrowed down his choice for the female lead to three actresses.

A new report says that Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation star Rebecca Ferguson tops the shortlist.

More on this story and who else is on the list below.

Deadline says that Seydoux is still in contention. Abbey Lee (Mad Max: Fury Road, Neon Demon) will also be testing for the role, which is expected to begin next week.

According to the site, the role in question is Belladonna Boudreaux aka Bella. The story of Bella is a complicated one, but their relationship is something that looks like it came out of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Gambit and Bella started out as best friends, but little did they know, they both came from rival Guilds. Gambit is associated with the Thieves Guild, while Belladonna has a connection to the Assassin’s Guild. In an attempt to unite the two guilds into one, and quell the rivalry, their fathers arranged the two to be married. But Bella’s brother had challenged Remy to a fight, and Remy killed him. As punishment, Gambit was exiled from New Orleans.

It’s really not hard to see why Seydoux is still testing for the role, and why Ferguson is also up for it as well. Both starred in the massively successful Mission: Impossible, with Ferguson having much more of a presence in her respective film given the role. However, Seydoux will have a chance to help a good guy spy in the latest James Bond film, Spectre.

Based on the comic book character, any of the three could easily play Bella, so it’s really hard to know who gets the role without knowing what Wyatt is looking for. Given the success of Rogue Nation, and the amount of praise that Ferguson has gotten for her part in the film, it’s quite possible that Ferguson may end up getting the role. That’s not to say that Seydoux or Lee are not worthy of it though, as any of them may impress Wyatt and Tatum.

Much like Deadpool, Gambit will ignore whatever was established in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and provide us a new origins story for the Ragin’ Cajun. With filming expected to start later this fall, Fox has scheduled Gambit for an October 7, 2016 release.

[Source: Deadline]