Channing Tatum will try to save the White House.
Channing Tatum, carefully orchestrating one of those careers where he alternates between popcorn action fare and romantic dramas or comedies, is now filling one of those action spots. Deadline reports that Tatum is in talks to star in “White House Down,” a big giant action film from that master of big giant action films, Roland Emmerich.
James Vanderbilt wrote the script about a “paramilitary takeover” of the White House. It’s being described “‘Die Hard’ in the White House.” Tatum would play a Secret Service agent who tries to help save the place from the bad guys. Well, at least Emmerich has experience doing big things at the White House, with “Independence Day” and I think several other of his “the world is falling apart” movies that I can’t quite remember because they’re too dull. There’s another “attack on the White House” movie in progress, “White House Taken,” with Gerard Butler. Great, now we can be bored by this storyline twice.
Tatum has the eagerly anticipated “Magic Mike” coming out this June, and then shows up in “GI Joe: Retaliation.” He’s currently working on “The Bitter Pill,” another film with now frequent collaborator Steven Soderbergh, then is supposed to be up for the long a-borning “Foxcatcher,” with “Jupiter Ascending,” a Wachowski film, on the horizon.
At first I thought Tatum was just another good looking meathead who’d be gone in a few years. But I’ve come to admire the way he’s seized control of his career, and like the sense of humor he has about himself. So go ahead, Channing, do your dumb White House movie, pick up your paycheck, and use that to do the something better I suspect you can do.
