The upcoming "Gambit" film has lost its director.

Ryan Wyatt has decided to leave the upcoming X-Men spin-off after signing on to do the film. The director explained in a statement that the new production schedule interfered with another project he was planning to do.

He stated, "I was very much looking forward to working with my friend Channing and the team at Fox, but regrettably a push in the start date now conflicts with another project. I thank them for the opportunity and I know that Gambit will make a terrific film."

Wyatt's schedule conflict arose from several changes that were made to the script, causing the budget to increase and prompting a longer shoot. The film is now scheduled to shoot in early 2016.

Wyatt's exit comes after 20th Century Fox's latest reboot "Fantastic Four" flopped terribly. "Gambit" is supposed to be a big franchise, which the studio hopes to establish in the same way that it did "Wolverine."

The new movie was written by Josh Zetumer, based on a treatment by "Gambit" comic co-creator Chris Claremont. The film is supposed to be produced by Channing Tatum, Reid Carolin, Lauren Shuler Donner and Simon Kinberg.

Wyatt is known for his work on "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," which was met with rave reviews, and for "The Gambler" starring Mark Wahlberg, John Goodman and Brie Larson. He was slated to direct "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes," but also left that project after the script underwent several changes. Fox is also in charge of that franchise.

The Gambit character was created in 1990 by Claremont and Jim Lee. Gambit, who is also part of the X-Men world and sometimes a villain fighting the team, is an expert card-thrower with the ability to mentally manipulate kinetic energy.

The "Gambit" movie is expected to hit theaters on Oct. 7, 2016. The film will be the eighth "X-Men" film by Fox, and it will be released after "X-Men: Apocalypse," which is slated for May 27, 2016.