Channing Tatum is making his directorial debut, sharing co-directing credits with longtime producing partner Reid Carolin, with the comedy DOG. The first trailer honestly makes it look like a heartwarming romp.
The film centers around Tatum’s Briggs, a disgraced Army Ranger who is promised a second chance at a military career if he can transport the dog of a fallen service member—who was also Briggs’ best friend—to his funeral by hauling butt down the Pacific Coast.
A sort of wacky-yet-heartfelt road trip ensues wherein Briggs struggles to tame Lulu, the Belgian Malinois who has been experiencing behavior problems ever since her handler died.
According to the synopsis on IMDB, “One of them has a week to live, the other lives like every day is his last.”
The film co-stars Q’orianka Kilcher as Niki, Jane Adams as Tamara, Kevin Nash as Gus, and Nicole LaLiberte as Zoe. There’s also a cameo by comedian Bill Burr in the trailer, though he is not listed in the cast roster on IMDB.
The film was co-directed and written by Carolin, who is perhaps best known for also having written the previous Tatum vehicles, Magic Mike and Magic Mike XXL. This also marks the directorial debut for Carolin. Carolin also produced the Magic Mike movies, along with most of Tatum’s other films. While Carolin wrote the script for DOG, it is based on a story he created with Brett Rodriguez.
We’ll have to see just how well Tatum can tug on our heartstrings when DOG hits theaters in Feb. 2022.