Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Talks to Direct, Star in Musical Comedy With Channing Tatum

Variety
REX/SHUTTERSTOCK
REX/SHUTTERSTOCK

By Justin Kroll, Variety

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is eyeing a return to the director’s chair, tackling a movie musical with Channing Tatum by his side.

Sources tell Variety that Gordon-Levitt is in early negotiations to direct Universal’s R-rated musical comedy with the running title Wingmen. He’s already attached to star in the movie alongside Tatum.

Universal landed the pitch that Gordon-Levitt and 21 Jump Street scribe Michael Bacall hatched last year following a competitive bidding war that saw several studios chasing the project.

Related: Joseph Gordon-Levitt on ‘Snowden’: What He Did Was a Really Positive Thing for the Country

The story follows two pilots who crash-land in Las Vegas. According to sources, the film is in the vein of Pitch Perfect meets Book of Mormon, with the duo covering Top 100 hits with a touch of adult humor.

The studio courted filmmakers that included Seth Gordon, James Bobin, and Book of Mormon director Casey Nicholaw before Gordon-Levitt threw his hat in the ring.

Marc Platt (Wicked) and Adam Siegel will produce for Marc Platt Productions, along with Tatum and his partners Reid Carolin and Peter Kiernan for Free Association. Gordon-Levitt will also produce with his shingle HitRecord Films. Kristin Lowe, senior VP of production, will oversee the project for Universal.

Related: Channing Tatum Closes Deal to Star in ‘Triple Frontier’

Production isn’t expected to start anytime soon as Tatum is about to begin shooting the Paramount action-thriller Triple Frontier opposite Tom Hardy. The actor can be seen next in Steven Soderbergh’s Logan Lucky.

Gordon-Levitt made his directing debut on the romantic dramedy Don Jon. He recently earned rave reviews for his performance in Oliver Stone’s Snowden and is currently developing a handful of projects, including Fraggle Rock, Sovereign, K Troop, and In Sight.

Tatum and Gordon-Levitt are no strangers to the song-and-dance world and both have also shown range in comedic roles. Tatum broke out in the dance film Step Up, and has continued to showcase his musical skills in films such as Hail, Caesar! and Magic Mike. Gordon-Levitt has sung live on his Pivot show HitRecord. The duo last starred together in the 2008 war drama Stop-Loss.