Dear John fans, don’t worry. Your favorite member of Team G.I. Joe has more projects lined up.
Breaking news yesterday from Mike Fleming at Deadline.com is that writer Jamie Linden is looking to finance his first shot at directing, an ensemble piece about a 10 year high school reunion with the working title My Generation Becomes A Movie, The Big Chill Reboot, okay it’s called Ten Year.
I like Big Chill II for this one, but the cast, rumored to include Tatum and Haylie Duff, isn’t old enough for angst yet. Maybe petulance.
It’s not that we don’t love Channing Tatum. He’s actually going to be a fine actor and as long as keeps working with directors like Sodebergh (2011’s upcoming Haywire) and Ron Howard (The Dilemma, also due next year), he will learn his craft well. That is the path Tom Cruise took a generation ago.
After Top Gun, Cruise could write his ticket to do anything. With the exception of Cocktail, his next movies were directed by A-listers like Scorsese (The Color of Money), Levinson (Rain Man) and Oliver Stone (Born on the Fourth of July). His co-stars were Paul Newman, Dustin Hoffman and even Nicholson after a few more missteps. Then again with Sorkin writing, Rob Reiner directing and a cast that included Nicholson, Demi Moore and Kevin Pollock, I could have starred in A Few Good Men.
The point is that Cruise took his time, worked with a variety of scenery chewers and legendary directors. When it was time for him to carry movies, he had the chops to go along with the face. If Tom Cruise doesn’t do that highly paid but tough apprenticeship, he may have still been stuck on a winsome smile a la Cocktail rather than able to pull off Magnolia or Jerry Maguire.
Channing Tatum has that chance too. Maybe a first-time director isn’t the best way to go, but with so many opportunities ready to launch in 2011-2012, the big screen will be seeing much more of Tatum than we did when Dear John missed. And for those of you keeping score at home, wannabe director Linden, who did a hell of a good job writing We Are Marshall, also adapted Nicholas Sparks’ novel that starred Tatum and Amanda Seyfried.
Channing Tatum isn’t Tom Cruise. He’s not even Tom Berenger yet. But a few more projects with some great directors and co-stars should have him to the point where he can carry a film.
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You should totally star in the remake of A Few Good Men. Hopefully Tatum will avoid having to rehab his career like Cruise is currently doing. Maybe a lesson learned by a lot of his peers? Probably […] Read MoreYou should totally star in the remake of A Few Good Men. Hopefully Tatum will avoid having to rehab his career like Cruise is currently doing. Maybe a lesson learned by a lot of his peers? Probably not, but one can have hope for the up and comers. Read Less