Actor Channing Tatum will return to the world of action movies in Red Shirt, with Deadpool 2 and Bullet Train director David Leitch at the helm. Details of the project are being kept under wraps for now, but Red Shirt has been described (via Deadline) as “a new spin on James Bond” with the movie reportedly having major franchise potential.
While the plot is currently unknown, the title Red Shirt could provide some clues. The term “redshirt” tends to refer to a stock character in fiction who dies soon after being introduced. So, will Red Shirt follow Tatum as a so-called redshirt who, instead of dying, is the only one to survive and must pluck up the courage to become the lead character in a James Bond-style adventure? It certainly sounds like the sort of role that Tatum would nail.
Red Shirt is based on an original idea by Simon Kinberg, who is best known for writing and producing several of the Fox X-Men movies including X-Men: The Last Stand, X-Men: Days of Future Past, and X-Men: Apocalypse, as well as producing the likes of Sherlock Holmes, Deadpool, and The Martian. Kinberg made his directorial debut in 2019 with the X-Men outing Dark Phoenix before helming this year’s ensemble action flick, The 355 starring Jessica Chastain, Penélope Cruz, Fan Bingbing, Diane Kruger, and Lupita Nyong'o.
Channing Tatum and David Leitch meanwhile are no strangers to the action genre. Tatum has fired many a bullet and thrown many a punch in the likes of G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, White House Down, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, and the Jump Street movies. Director David Leitch meanwhile has helmed the likes of Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, and the recent Bullet Train, during which Tatum appears in a scene-stealing cameo.
Former stunt performer David Leitch has quickly become well-renowned for his affinity for action movies, with the director also one of the names behind the hugely popular John Wick franchise. He was a producer on last year’s crowd-pleasing Nobody starring Bob Odenkirk, and will next produce Violent Night, starring Stranger Things actor David Harbour as a gruff and gritty Santa Claus.
So, while we don’t know much about Red Shirt just yet, with the names attached it is surely one to watch out for.
Channing Tatum Will Next Return in Magic Mike’s Last Dance
Before returning to action movies, Channing Tatum will first dance his way back into our hearts in the upcoming Magic Mike’s Last Dance.
Just in time for Valentine’s Day comes the third installment of the blockbuster Magic Mike franchise, with the musical comedy Magic Mike’s Last Dance. The sequel finds Tatum’s Mike Lane taking to the stage again after a lengthy hiatus following a business deal that went bust. Now broke and taking bartender gigs in Florida, Mike will pull out his old movies for what he hopes will be one last hurrah, heading to London with a wealthy socialite who lures him with an offer he can’t refuse…and an agenda all her own. With everything on the line, once Mike discovers what she truly has in mind, will he—and the roster of hot new dancers he’ll have to whip into shape—be able to pull it off?
Directed by Steven Soderbergh, written by Reid Carolin, Magic Mike’s Last Dance is set to be theatrically released on February 10, 2023, by Warner Bros. Pictures.