As he tap-dances his way through the Coen Brothers’ Hail, Caesar! this weekend, Channing Tatum has never made a better argument for casting him in a full-fledged movie musical. And now, after years and years of teasing, it may be happening. Tatum and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, that other famous Millennial hoofer, are reportedly teaming up for an R-rated musical comedy—and no, hang on, that’s not an oxymoron.
Scripted by Michael Bacall, who worked with Gordon-Levitt way back on Manic and with Tatum on 21 Jump Street, the story follows “two pilots on a misadventure,” per The Hollywood Reporter. Years and years ago Tatum and Gordon-Levitt had a new movie version of Guys and Dolls on their roster, but that’s gone nowhere in the intervening years. The two have, however, brought out their musical inclinations in public many times, during the Seth MacFarlane-hosted Oscars:
On Saturday Night Live:
And in Magic Mike XXL, a.k.a. the GIF that broke the Internet:
So yeah, you could say there’s a public appetite for seeing these two singing and dancing, preferably while sharing the screen. And while an original musical may be a bigger gamble than trodding out an old classic like Guys and Dolls, it’s also a lot more exciting, and with much more potential to be a ridiculous, 21 Jump Street-style out-of-nowhere surprise. So expect some Tatum dance moves that are a little less classic:
And a little more XXL:
Who’s going to complain about that?
