Channing Tatum to star in “Evel Knievel” as titular stuntman

PanARMENIAN.Net - Channing Tatum is set to pull off his biggest stunt yet.

The red-hot Magic Mike actor is in negotiations to star in and produce a film about daredevil Evel Knievel for Columbia Pictures. Tatum will produce with his Iron Horse Entertainment partner Reid Carolin, who will also write the screenplay, The Hollywood Reporter said.

Also on board to produce is one of the town's hottest producing teams in Mike DeLuca and Dana Brunetti, who just landed the hotly contested Fifty Shades of Grey producing gig for Universal Pictures and Focus Features.

Born Robert Craig Knievel, the stuntman became a household name in the 1970s for his nationally televised motorcycle jumps. Ever the showman, Knievel became recognizable for his use of a Stars-and-Stripes getup and known for his 433 broken bones. At the height of his celebrity, he gained endorsements from Harley-Davidson and a toy line by the Ideal Toy Company. Knievel died in 2007 at the age of 69.

Tatum isn't the first actor to assume the famed thrill-seeker. George Hamilton starred in the 1971 film titled Evel Knievel, while Knievel himself toplined the 1977 film Viva Knievel!

The Tatum vehicle is based on Stuart Barker's 2008 book Life of Evel.

Thanks to a string of hits including the semi-autobiographical ode to the male stripper Magic Mike, Tatum has enjoyed his pick of plum projects. He next will shoot Bennett Miller's Foxcatcher, based on another true-life character, Olympic wrestler Mark Schultz.