Channing Tatum has had one of the more fascinating career transformations in recent memory.  While he initially rose to prominence as a male model and the eye candy star of Step Up, the actor has recently shined in a variety of impressive projects like Side Effects, 21 Jump Street, and Magic Mike.  His producing career has taken off as well, and one of the projects on the horizon is a biopic of stunt performer Evel Knievel.  Tatum is onboard to produce and star as Knievel, and his producing partner Reid Carolin is currently penning the script for the film. 

Steve recently got the chance to sit down with producer Dana Brunetti for an extended interview, and during the course of their conversation Brunetti discussed the status of the Evel Knievel project.  He revealed the likely timeline of the film and the tone, which he describes as “a serious movie but a fun movie.”  Hit the jump to read on.

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Speaking with Steve, Brunetti said the plan is to focus on a specific period in Knievel’s life, particularly the road to creating the Evel Knievel character:

“We’re picking from him in Butte, Montana…all the way to the Caesar’s Palace fountain jump.  The story is really how he came from the life he was and developed the character of Evel and became Evel Knievel.”

Brunetti cautioned that he’s still waiting on the script from Carolin so the focus could change, but his initial conversations with the scribe revolved around the early life of Knievel.  The Caesar’s Palace jump seems to be as good a climax as any, as it was there in Vegas that Knievel solidified his status as a pop culture icon.

The producer also noted that the film won’t be smoothing out the rougher edges of Knievel’s life:

“He was a hardcore guy.  It’s gonna be gritty, it’s definitely not gonna be popcorn.  It’s gonna be a serious movie but a fun movie.”

Watch the video interview below, and if you missed any of our other stories on Steve’s interview with Brunetti peruse the following links:

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