Channing Tatum is attached to star in an adaptation of Joe Haldeman’s classic sci-fi story “The Forever War” that was the subject of a good old-fashioned Hollywood bidding war.
Warner Bros. and Sony battled for the rights before WB won the project late Thursday.
Tatum and his Free Association partner Peter Kiernan will produce with Roy Lee, while two-time Oscar winner Richard Edlund will serve as executive producer and special effects consultant.
Jon Spaihts (“Prometheus”) wrote the script and the film is expected to attract a high-profile director, as Ridley Scott had previously been developing the project, though his rights deal recently lapsed.
Haldeman’s 1974 novel follows a young man drafted to fight in a war against aliens known as the Taurans. As he rises through the military ranks and travels through space, he never ages, unlike his loved ones on Earth. Fortunately, there’s a female soldier who tries her hardest to age at the same rate.
Tatum, who is coming off the disappointment of sci-fi movie “Jupiter Ascending,” next stars in “Magic Mike XXL.” He’s represented by UTA, Management 360 and Hansen Jacobson.