Well, well hunk o’ beef Channing Tatum has been watching his foreign arthouse films! Or at least has awareness of them.
Good on ya, CT. The “G.I. Joe” star is stepping up to the big leagues with the recent confirmation of his joining the illustrious cast of Steven Soderbergh’s new film, “Knockout” and now it appears he wants to branch out into realms of cinema that do not include adaptations of ’80s toys or hip-hop dancing, name dropping hot Danish director du jour Nicholas Winding Refn (“Bronson,” “Valhalla Rising”) while discussing plans for an autobiographical film about his career as a stripper. Yes. Channing Tatum wants Nicolas Winding Refn to direct the film about his stripping life.
He tells the Sydney Morning Herald, “I’ve already got the director picked out. I’d like Nicolas Refn, who did the movie ‘Bronson,’ to do it because he’s insane for it. It needs to be a crazy film and I think it’s also possible to do a cute, romantic movie.” Sounds like the most insane project ever, to be honest.
Tatum was praised for his work in the indie “A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints,” his first real breakout role, but really made a name for himself with the dance flick “Step Up,” boneheaded action mess, “G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra,” and the aptly named, underground boxing film, “Fighting,” capitalizing more on his stripper/Abercrombie model brawn than his acting chops (though he wasn’t half-bad in Kimberly Peirce’s Iraq vet drama “Stop-Loss”). His gravitation towards Soderbergh and Refn speaks highly to his taste, so hopefully he’ll step away from the mindless stuff, though he’ll next be seen across Amanda Seyfried in the Nicholas Sparks adaptation/sapfest “Dear John.” Both great actors, but this one sounds like Lifetime-quality, “The Notebook”-lite dreck, ugh.
So, great choice, but a “cute, romantic,” and also “crazy film” about his career as a stripper directed by the man who brought us the Danish drug-feuled “Pusher” trilogy, operatic prison epic, “Bronson,” and the haunting Viking story “Valhalla Rising”? No matter how preposterous, it will still be destination viewing, whether it be awesomely weird or not. Also, good news for the skin-baring stripper film lies in the fact that Tatum assures Details magazine he is fully recovered from the horrible penis-scalding injury he incurred while playing a Roman centurion in “The Eagle of the Ninth.” Click here if you’d like a gross description of what happens to your junk when you pour boiling water in your wetsuit. The recovery is good news for all of us if this film gets off the ground.