I'm probably as big a defender of Channing Tatum as you could hope for-- I actually liked The Eagle, thought he brought some worthwhile depth to Dear John, and that he was the standout of Stop-Loss-- but even I'm not sure what to make of news that he's planning to star in a Peter Pan origin story. Yes, a 30-year-old man made of muscle and rock is planning to tell us the tale of how Peter Pan hooked up with the Lost Boys and made it to Neverland; so far as I can tell, unless Tatum is actually planning to play Captain Hook, this idea makes no sense at all.
And yet, at Sony they're clearly as big fans of Tatum as I am, as Deadline reports they're in negotiations to acquire the film, titled simply Pan. Billy Ray, known for writing and directing Breach and Shattered Glass and currently scripting The Hunger Games, will be writing this one as well. Tatum is producing along with Reid Carolin and Joe Roth; no director is on board yet.
Because the entire concept behind this is so hard to figure out-- will Tatum play Peter Pan older, then transformed into a youth again? Will there be Benjamin Button-style de-aging going on?-- I'm going to refrain from speculating too much until we know more details. Like I said, I've got an implicit trust in Channing Tatum, and sincerely hope he and the team can make something worthwhile out of an idea that seems so bizarre on paper.
