Channing Tatum, Tom Hardy Set to Star in Drama About Afghanistan Withdrawal

Not wasting any time, Universal Pictures has bought an untitled pitch about the last days of the Afghanistan War from writer/producer George Nolfi. Channing Tatum and Tom Hardy have signed on to star in the as-yet-unwritten movie.

According to Deadline, the script will be based on a true story about three former Special Forces team members who raced to rescue families and allies left behind as Afghanistan's government collapsed in August 2021.

Tatum starred as the title character in the "Magic Mike" movies, Duke in a pair of "G.I. Joe" movies and Jenko in the "21 Jump Street" comedy films. Tatum, playing actor Burt Gurney, performed a memorable sailor song-and-dance routine in "Hail! Caesar" and played Jody in Quentin Tarantino's "The Hateful Eight."

Hardy has recently enjoyed success with his unhinged performance in the Marvel sequel "Venom: Let There Be Carnage." He's best known for playing Bane in "The Dark Knight Rises" and Max Rockatansky in "Mad Max: Fury Road." He had a leading role in Christopher Nolan's World War II movie, "Dunkirk," and received an Oscar nomination for his performance in "The Revenant."

After writing the screenplays for "Ocean's Twelve" and "The Bourne Ultimatum," Nolfi wrote and directed "The Adjustment Bureau," a science fiction movie based on a Philip K. Dick short story that starred Matt Damon and Emily Blunt. He most recently wrote and directed "The Banker" for Apple TV+. There's no word in the press release as to whether he's set to direct this new Afghanistan movie, but that seems like a strong possibility.

When a studio announces that it has bought a pitch based on real-life events, there's a general sense that it is planting a flag and trying to warn off the competition from tackling the same subject. Unless the script is almost finished, this movie might not even film until 2023. Everyone involved in the movie has to hope the public will remember that we fought a war by the time the film comes out.

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