We first learned about Channing Tatum's desire to play Evel Knievel on the big screen all the way back in 2012, but only now does it seem like that particular dream is being realized. And now that the movie seems to be getting some traction, the 21 Jump Street starring is preparing for his performance by learning a new skill...
It's true that he's not exactly doing flying high over giant gaps or riding through flaming hoops just yet, but Channing Tatum seems to be getting a hang of the whole motocross bike thing. It's not entirely clear which of the two riders featured in this video is the actor (assuming that one is), but they're performances are so similar that it doesn't really matter.
One can always appreciate the lengths that an actor is willing to go in order to make their performance in a project more authentic - whether they lose a lot of weight, or learn how to kill a man - and this is another perfect example of that. Of course, nobody expects Tatum to start pulling off all the biggest stunts that Evel Knievel was able to accomplish during his lifetime. That being said, I would be very impressed if he did something even close to this:
As alluded to earlier, there hasn't been much buzz coming out of Channing Tatum's Evel Knievel biopic in the last few years, but that changed in a big way in recent weeks. A trade report came out revealing that Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky had taken an interest in the project and was considering making it as his next movie. We haven't heard any developments since then, but Channing Tatum's motocross training does make us wonder: could this mean that Aronofsky is officially on-board to make the movie? It's worth noting that the filmmaker's name has been mentioned in connection with other projects post-Noah, but maybe this will be the one that sticks.
Channing Tatum's interest turning towards his Evel Knievel project also makes us wonder about the state of Gambit. The film is on the books to come out on October 7, 2016, and while that means that production should have to start relatively soon, the project hit a somewhat major snag when it lost director Rupert Wyatt. Surely the folks at 20th Century Fox are scrambling to try and keep it all together, but in the meantime Tatum seems to be focusing on some other stuff.
