Channing Tatum has gone from dance movie heartthrob to multi-threat actor capable of comedy, drama, romance, and everything in between, and it’s only a matter of time before an Oscar nomination comes his way (please see “Foxcatcher” for how transformative he can be). And he’s currently lining up a project that, while it may not win any hardware, is certainly poised to get you to break out a handkerchief.
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Variety reports that Tatum has signed on to produce and possibly star in the “Two Kisses For Maddy” at Sony. Based on Matthew Logelin’s memoir, it tells a father/daughter tale that starts with the death of the author’s wife, 27 hours after she gives birth to their daughter. Here’s the book synopsis:
Matt and Liz Logelin were high school sweethearts. After years of long-distance dating, the pair finally settled together in Los Angeles, and they had it all: a perfect marriage, a gorgeous new home, and a baby girl on the way. Liz’s pregnancy was rocky, but they welcomed Madeline, beautiful and healthy, into the world on March 24, 2008.
Just twenty-seven hours later, Liz suffered a pulmonary embolism and died instantly, without ever holding the daughter whose arrival she had so eagerly awaited. Though confronted with devastating grief and the responsibilities of a new and single father, Matt did not surrender to devastation; he chose to keep moving forward– to make a life for Maddy.
In this memoir, Matt shares bittersweet and often humorous anecdotes of his courtship and marriage to Liz; of relying on his newborn daughter for the support that she unknowingly provided; and of the extraordinary online community of strangers who have become his friends. In honoring Liz’s legacy, heartache has become solace.
Dana Stevens (“Safe Haven,” “Life Or Something Like It”) will pen the script, and perhaps those credits are a good indication of the tone this will be going for. And if anything, Tatum saved this project from a cheesy Lifetime movie version, with the property originally set up at the TV network.