Channing Tatum certainly hasn’t had an easy time gaining mainstream recognition in the past. The former model found it difficult to move beyond a teenage audience after his performances in “Step Up” or “The Light of the Silence”. But now things look very different and Channing Tatum is more popular than ever. It goes without saying that the actor has had to bite one or two sour apples for his current status.
During the lie detector interview with Channing Tatum answered some questions about his life and career. It also didn’t leave GI Joe untouched, in which Tatum took on the lead role of Duke, directed by The Mummy creator Stephen Sommers. The ‘Magic Mike’ star revealed that she had no desire to ever be a part of this movie from the start. But that’s not all: Tatum explained that heGI Joe – Billingeven asked to die in the first 10 minutes:
“I turned down the first movie seven times. But the studio had an attractive option for me and I had to make the movie. As for the second part, of course I didn’t want that either. So yes, I asked to be killed in the first ten minutes of the movie.”
In an earlier interview with Howard Stern, Channing Tatum was open about his distaste for the G.I. Joe franchise and the fact that he never had any desire to star as the title character:
“I’ll be honest. I hate this movie. I was forced to do this one. For ‘Coach Carter,’ they gave me a three-movie deal. They hand you the contract and say, ‘A three-movie deal, please. ‘ And as a young actor you think, ‘Oh my god, that sounds great, I’m going to do that!’ Time passes and you get other offers and you have the dream job you want to do. And the studio calls and they say, ‘ Hey, we’ve got a movie for you.’ And it’s GI Joe. And I love GI Joe! […] The script was not good. And I didn’t want to do anything that I’ve been a fan of since I was a kid. And I didn’t want to do anything that was bad first, and second, I just didn’t want to know if I was GI Joe.”
If you’re wondering if the GI Joe franchise has gained credibility over the years, the answer is simple: no. Part 1 is still a mediocre blockbuster that you don’t need to see. While Part 2 comes with more action (thanks in part to Dwayne Johnson and Bruce Willis), it’s also largely irrelevant hit-and-run cinema. In 2021, Robert Schwentke made another attempt to revive the franchise with a spin-off without Tatum, Dwayne Johnson and Co. with “Snake Eyes”. In fact, the best movie of the series was made here, as you can see in our FILMSTARTS review.