Channing Tatum has long been making a career out of being known for more than just appearing in big action fare such as GI Joe. He’s added romantic dramas and comedies to his CV and has also moved into producing. Now he’s apparently in talks to co-star with Steve Carell in Bennett Miller’s new planned drama Foxcatcher.
The director, who is currently on the receiving end of praise for Brad Pitt baseball drama Moneyball, has been developing the film for a few years now alongside Capote writer Dan Futterman and fellow scribe E Max Frye.
Foxcatcher would tell the true story of John du Pont (Carell), the heir to a chemical fortune who suffered from attacks of paranoid schizophrenia. During one such fit in 1996, he shot and killed Olympic wrestler Dave Schultz (Tatum, if he signs on). The title, in case you were wondering, comes from the name of the Pennsylvania factory, which was built by du Pont, and where the incident took place.
Du Pont went to prison for the crime, where he died last year. Schultz, who was 36 at the time, left behind a wife and two small children.
Miller is rounding up the financing for the movie, and while he doesn’t have a distributor in place yet, we doubt that’ll take long given the names involved even if they don't score Tatum. The aim is to start shooting early next year.