Channing Tatum has been cast in Quentin Tarantino's post-Civil war Western film "The Hateful Eight" which is set for release in 2015, E! News reported.
This is the first time the "21 Jump Street" actor will be working with the Oscar-winning director and screenwriter. He is set to join Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Bruce Dern and Walton Goggin, all of whom have previously worked in Tarantino films. Newcomers like Tatum include Jennifer Jason Leigh and Demian Bichir.
Production firm The Weinstein Company released a statement announcing Tatum's casting but not his role, on Thursday, Nov. 6, as well as details about the film to E! News.
"The Hateful Eight" is set several years after the Civil War. Russell plays John Ruth, a bounty hunter who is escorting the fugitive Daisy Domergue, played by Leigh, to Red Rock.
Along their journey they meet various people, such as a former union soldier who is now a bounty hunter, played by Jackson; a Southern renegade claiming to be a sheriff, played by Goggins; and a sewing shop supervisor played by Bichir. They also meet a cowboy, played by Madsen; a Confederate General, played by Dern; and the Red Rock hangman, played by Roth.
"The Hateful Eight" is set to start shooting in January 2015 and The Weinstein Company stated that it would be a large-format film with a wide 70mm release, according to The Guardian.
Tarantino initially abandoned plans for "The Hateful Eight" in January after its script was leaked online. It resulted in Tarantino shelving the project indefinitely and filing a lawsuit which was dismissed, refiled and ultimately withdrawn. However in April, Tarantino staged a live reading of the movie's screenplay held at the United Artists theater in Los Angeles.
Tatum recently filmed "Magic Mike XXL," the sequel to the 2011 male stripper drama "Magic Mike." He is also set to star as superhero Gambit in a standalone X-Men film for Twentieth Century Fox.