Channing Tatum’s ‘Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock’ Has Found Its Writer
For a few years nowChanning Tatumhas expressed interest in directing. He’s produced a few films, includingMagic Mike XXLand22 Jump Street, but he’s finally stepping behind the camera. The actor is set to make his directorial debut with an adaptation ofForgive Me, Leonard Peacock, which now has a writer onboard. Read more about theForgive Me, Leonard Peacockwriter after the jump.
Based onMatthew Quick’s (Silver Linings Playbook) young adult novel, the story is about a high school student who plans to kill his best friend and then himself with aP-38 Nazi pistol his grandfather gave him. According toDeadline, Tatum and the Weinstein company have enlistedMike Vukadinovichto write the script. Vukadinovich doesn’t have any produced credits, but he currently has two films in development:Pete and GoatandRememory.
Tatum considered directingMagic Mike XXLas his first time effort, but then he came to his senses (source:Vulture):
We’re not going to direct our first movie as a sequel to a Steven Soderbergh movie. That’s not smart. I want to start with something very small … make a lot of mistakes, make them real early, and then go jump in [on Magic Mike 2]… I could look at how he uses the camera, how he sets up shots, how he makes his decisions, but at the end of the day, it’s really how he sees the world, and we’ll never be able to copy Soderbergh. No one can. Even if you tried to copy him, you can’t, because it’s always going to be a reflection of yourself.
With material as sensitive and as timely asForgive Me, Leonard Peacock, it’s probably not the best film to make mistakes on. The subject matter clearly means a lot toHarvey Weinstein, who’s alsoplanning on producing an anti-NRA filmstarringMeryl Streep.
James Ponsoldt(The End of the Tour) was once attached to write and directForgive Me, Leonard Peacock, which hediscussed with usback in 2013. Here’s what he had to say about it:
Forgive Me, Leonard Peacockis definitely an ambitious undertaking. Tatum may additionally co-star as a teacher. The film sounds like a small-scale story, but again, material this challenging requires a delicate and sensitive approach. Hopefully Tatum has it in him to direct a thoughtful take on this subject matter.
