While Hollywood has been churning out a couple movie musicals a year ever since Chicago hit it big, they almost always tend to be big screen adaptations of existing Broadway musicals. Now, however, Channing Tatum and Joseph Gordon-Levitt are teaming up to give the people what they really want: An original, R-rated musical comedy. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Gordon-Levitt collaborated on the idea for the film with screenwriter Michael Bacall (21 Jump Street, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World), who will now pen the script. While little is known about the project, it apparently centers on “two pilots on a misadventure,” which makes it sound like a raunchier, aviation-themed version of On The Town.
Both Tatum and Gordon-Levitt have shown an interest in showmanship throughout their careers (only Hugh Jackman and Neil Patrick Harris can top them for superfluous singing and dancing). Gordon-Levitt first showed off his skills in (500) Days Of Summer and has since wooed Mindy Kaling with tap dancing, dueted with Lady Gaga, nailed Janet Jackson’s “Rhythm Nation,” and backflipped his way through She & Him’s salute to old Hollywood dance duets:
Meanwhile, Tatum has jumped from hip-hop dancing in Step Up to stripping in Magic Mike to ballroom dancing with Charlize Theron at the 2013 Oscars (where Gordon-Levitt also did a tap dance). He can currently be seen adding singing and tapping to his resume in a Gene Kelly-inspired number in Hail, Caesar!:
The project is still in development, meaning that Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling will beat Tatum and Gordon-Levitt to the original movie musical punch with Damien Chazelle’s La La Land.