Channing Tatum Was Forced To Star In His Worst Movie
Channing Tatum was contractually obligated to be in G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra.
Channing Tatum is already well known for not being a fan of his movie G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, having been quite outspoken about his disdain for it in the past. However, Variety reports on a lie detector test he took administered by Vanity Fair and the actor had more to say about how he got stuck with the role. He was tempted and excited by a multi-picture contract, not realizing that he was therefore obligated to make whatever the studio wanted him in.
The actor admitted in the lie detector test that he tried several times to get out of working on the G.I. Joe movie, including turning down the role seven times. However, Paramount, the studio that produced the film, was adamant to have Channing Tatum star in the movie and insisted that he honor his contract. He told Howard Stern in an interview that he was pushed into doing the movie despite hating the script.
To top it off, Channing Tatum is a fan of the franchise, having enjoyed the G.I. Joe: Real American Hero cartoon as a youth, and knew the movie was not up to the standards fans would appreciate. He was more interested in playing Snake Eyes, the ninja assassin who was a popular member of the original team since its inception, but the studio wanted him to play Duke and lead the team. Ray Park, known for playing Darth Maul in the Star Wars franchise and Toad in the 20th Century Fox version of the X-Men movies, was cast in the role of Snake Eyes.
To ensure that he would never have to play Duke again, Channing Tatum insisted on his being killed within the first ten minutes of the sequel, G.I. Joe: Retaliation. The script wound up centering the plot on the revenge of the Joe team for Duke’s death, enshrining the actor’s request into the movie franchise. Another G.I. Joe movie focused on the character Snake Eyes, played this time by Henry Golding, but failed at the box office, and Dwayne Johnson will be starring in what will be the third installment of the main storyline, G.I. Joe: Ever Vigilant.
Some action stars might find themselves out of work after a bad movie, but not so for Channing Tatum. Once his obligation to Paramount was complete, the actor went on to be part of three other franchises – the LEGO movies, the Magic Mike franchise, and the 21 Jump Street franchise – as well as appearing in other action roles such as White House Down and Kingsmen: The Golden Circle. This year, he made his directorial debut with the feature film Dog, which is streaming on Amazon Prime.
Channing Tatum is looking to do more work behind the camera as well as act. He has production credits on 17 films, with four more in the works including a Magic Mike sequel, and is famously seeking to remake the Oscar-winning Patrick Swayze classic Ghost. No matter what he does next, it is with the relief of knowing that he will never have to be in another G.I. Joe movie.
