Channing Tatum on ‘Dog,’ ‘Magic Mike,’ Marvel and His Hiatus

Channing Tatum poses for a portrait at the Four Seasons Hotel to promote his film "Dog" in Los Angeles on Feb. 6, 2022. (AP)
Channing Tatum poses for a portrait at the Four Seasons Hotel to promote his film "Dog" in Los Angeles on Feb. 6, 2022. (AP)
TT

Channing Tatum on ‘Dog,’ ‘Magic Mike,’ Marvel and His Hiatus

Channing Tatum poses for a portrait at the Four Seasons Hotel to promote his film "Dog" in Los Angeles on Feb. 6, 2022. (AP)
Channing Tatum poses for a portrait at the Four Seasons Hotel to promote his film "Dog" in Los Angeles on Feb. 6, 2022. (AP)

Not since 2017’s “Logan Lucky” has Channing Tatum been the lead in a film. It’s been a confounding hiatus for one of Hollywood’s top stars — an actor (Gawker once deemed him the icon of “new masculinity” ) who has playfully, goofily, sometimes shirtlessly redefined male movie stardom. America agrees on very little, but who doesn’t love Channing Tatum?

Tatum’s five-year break ends Feb. 18 when “Dog,” in which he plays Briggs, a U.S. Army Ranger who drives a fallen soldier’s dog to his funeral, opens in theaters. It will be quickly followed-up next month with another film starring Tatum, “The Lost City,” a comedy with Sandra Bullock.

But as Tatum reenters the spotlight, he says he never really meant to disappear in the first place.

“I didn’t step away like ‘I’m out of here,’” says Tatum.

In the last five years, Tatum launched the touring stage show “Magic Mike Live” and penned a children’s book inspired by his 8-year-old daughter, Everly. In 2018, Tatum and Jenna Dewan, who had been married for nine years after first meeting during 2006’s “Step Up,” announced their split. All the while, Tatum’s screen appearances — a handful of cameos and voice roles — were fleeting.

“Time just kind of got away,” Tatum said in a recent interview from Los Angeles. “Really, being a dad sort of just swept me away for almost four years. I kind of got lost in doing that.”

“I acted for almost 10 years and I sort of needed to take a step back,” he adds. “My career was kind of my whole life. Everything revolved around what was I going to do with my career.”

“Dog,” the directorial debut of both Tatum and his longtime producing partner, Reid Carolin, was a way to get back to making the kind of movie that excited them about the business in the first place. Like the “Magic Mike” films that Carolin wrote, Brigg’s road-trip encounters make for an American odyssey navigating polarized views of patriotism and politics.

“I didn’t want to just go jump in somebody’s movie,” says Tatum. “We wanted our next thing to be something that was our story, that we did, and not just make something because we could.”

Tatum and Carolin spent years — Tatum estimates four and half years for himself — developing a Marvel project that ultimately never happened. Their “Gambit,” to be adjacent to the “X-Men” film, was among the highest profile casualties of 20th Century Fox’s acquisition by the Walt Disney Co.

“When ‘Gambit’ was falling apart, I remember Chan throwing a chair across the room,” says Carolin. “We were looking at it each other like: I can’t believe we put two years into that.”

The loss of “Gambit” still clearly stings. “I mean, the amount of time, the amount of sweat and tears,” Tatum says, shaking his head. They had pre-visualized large action sequences, shot scenes and designed the film’s entire world, says Carolin.

“We won’t know what it could have been unless Marvel calls up and says, ‘Hey, would you be interested in revisiting this?’” Tatum says.

After spending so much time prepping something that never came to fruition, Tatum and Carolin wanted to jump into a film they could make on their own terms, with much of the same crew and independently financed business model as their “Magic Mike” films. Gregory Jacobs, who directed “Magic Mike XXL,” is a producer. They effectively got the band back together.

“We were like: We need to be able to go make something. We reflected on the experience of ‘Magic Mike’ where we didn’t have anyone looking over our shoulder,” says Carolin. “There was nobody saying, ‘You can’t do this, you can’t do that.’”

Tatum and Carolin first met on Kimberly Peirce’s 2008 film “Stop-Loss,” about post-traumatic stress disorder and Iraq War soldiers, and they’ve since returned to other stories of American veterans, executive producing the 2017 HBO documentary “War Dog: A Soldier’s Best Friend.” The origins of “Dog” are based on Tatum’s own experience taking a trip to California’s Big Sur with a dog — named Lulu like his “Dog” co-star — shortly before she died from cancer. In “Dog,” their bond has been expanded as a commentary on the post-war life of veterans.

“A lot of times when you make movies about soldiers, they get archetypically pigeonholed as either heroes or broken people that need healing,” says Carolin. “We didn’t really want to veer in either one of those directions.”

Tatum’s character in “Dog” is searching for a place somewhere between partisan extremes. “Dog” is the relatively rare Hollywood film that may appeal as much to so-called Middle America as it does on the coasts, but Tatum, who grew up in Alabama and Mississippi, recoils as the thought of targeting any segment of moviegoers.

“I would not call myself a liberal. I would not call myself a Republican or a Democrat. I’m not political very much at all, but I definitely have my points of view that are kind of in all of those things,” Tatum says. “I do believe that the stereotypes and the generalizations can get us in trouble.”

“The news and political stuff, I think we’ve gotten to a place of real miscommunication and misunderstanding,” adds Tatum. “What does that even mean, to make movies for Middle America? I find it really strange even the concept of going: We want to make a movie for these people.”

The “Magic Mike” empire, too, has proved remarkably universal. After the first two movies grossed more than $300 million in ticket sales worldwide, “Magic Mike Live,” first mounted in Las Vegas, has played in London, Berlin and Australia. A North American tour is to begin April 6 in Nashville, Tennessee.

As Tatum tells it, after Steven Soderbergh saw the live show, he encouraged Tatum and Carolin to develop a third film. With Soderbergh directing and a script by Carolin, “Magic Mike’s Last Dance” is being made for HBO Max. Tatum has promised that “the stipperverse will never be the same.”

Visibly excited about the movie, Tatum and Carolin compare it to “All That Jazz” and “Pretty Woman.” Tatum (whose girlfriend, Zoë Kravitz, stars in Soderbergh’s just-released “Kimi” ) says that after two films that were “about men, for women,” the third will introduce a female protagonist “equal and if-not-more-central character than Mike.”



How the Coveted Bronze BAFTA Mask Trophies Are Made

Completed British Academy Film Awards masks at the FSE Foundry in Braintree, England on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (AP)
Completed British Academy Film Awards masks at the FSE Foundry in Braintree, England on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (AP)
TT

How the Coveted Bronze BAFTA Mask Trophies Are Made

Completed British Academy Film Awards masks at the FSE Foundry in Braintree, England on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (AP)
Completed British Academy Film Awards masks at the FSE Foundry in Braintree, England on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (AP)

Those winning a prize at the upcoming British Academy Film Awards will bag a coveted bronze mask trophy — and get a bit of an arm workout taking it home.

Along with the honor of being named the best of the year in the industry, winners at the BAFTA ceremony on Feb. 22 will be awarded one of the dozens of the 3-kilogram (6.6-pound) prizes.

This year the cast and crew of “One Battle After Another,” “Sinners,” “Hamnet,” “Marty Supreme,” and “Sentimental Value” are in the running for the trophies at the EE BAFTA ceremony, to be held at London's Royal Festival Hall.

As with many things in show business, all that glitters is not gold. The BAFTA masks are made of phosphor bronze, polished to a mirror finish that will reflect the happy face of its new owner.

Craftsmen at the AATi Foundry in Braintree, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northeast of London, use a sandcasting technique to make about 350 bronze trophies each year for all the BAFTA ceremonies — covering the film, television and gaming industries.

They are created in batches, and making one from start to finish takes around a week, the foundry's director Hugh Bisset said Tuesday.

The process starts with a pattern by the tooling team, often out of timber or 3D printing. That tool moves to the molding team which uses sand to make two recessed impressions of the mask, one each side. They are then closed together, ready for molten hot bronze — up to 1,200 degrees Celsius (2,192 Fahrenheit) — to be poured into it.

The metal takes about three or four hours to cool down, when it can then be removed from the sand. The masks' surfaces look dull and a bit rough around the edges at this stage, but after fettling, threading and polishing they are ready to be assembled before being checked over extremely carefully.

Bisset says it’s important that the masks are shiny and have no polish left on them.

“The thing I’m always conscious of is that these amazing actors and actresses, they pick up their awards and my big concern is that a smudge of polish will end up over their lovely, beautiful white dress,” he said. “There’s lots of things we need to think about.”

Bisset reckons the diligence and care that his skilled team puts into the making of the masks reflects the hard work of the winning filmmakers and movie stars.

While it’s still unknown if favorites Jessie Buckley, Timothée Chalamet and Teyana Taylor will get the glory on Sunday, whoever does win will take home something worth more than its heavy weight in bronze.

“There’s a lot of metal in it,” but each mask also has “a lot of time and love being put into it,” Bisset said.


Britney Spears Sells Rights to Music Catalogue

FILE PHOTO: Singer Britney Spears arrives at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards in New York, US, August 28, 2016.  REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/File Photo/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Singer Britney Spears arrives at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards in New York, US, August 28, 2016. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/File Photo/File Photo
TT

Britney Spears Sells Rights to Music Catalogue

FILE PHOTO: Singer Britney Spears arrives at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards in New York, US, August 28, 2016.  REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/File Photo/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Singer Britney Spears arrives at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards in New York, US, August 28, 2016. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/File Photo/File Photo

Pop star ‌Britney Spears has sold her rights to her music catalogue to independent music publisher Primary Wave, the ​latest artist to strike a deal for her work.

Entertainment site TMZ, citing legal documents it had obtained, first reported the news, saying the "Oops!... I Did It Again" and "Toxic" singer had signed the deal on December 30.

According to Reuters, it quoted sources as saying it ‌was "in the ‌ballpark" of Canadian singer Justin ​Bieber's ‌reported $200 ⁠million ​agreement to sell ⁠his music rights to Hipgnosis in 2023.

A person familiar with the situation said news of the Spears and Primary Wave deal was accurate. No further details were given.

Primary Wave, which is home to artists ⁠including Whitney Houston, Prince and Stevie ‌Nicks, did not ‌immediately respond to a request for ​comment. Spears has ‌not commented publicly.

The 44-year-old, one of ‌the most successful pop artists of all time, has topped charts around the world, starting off with "...Baby One More Time" in 1998. The ‌deal includes her songs such as "(You Drive Me) Crazy", "Circus", "Gimme More" and "I'm a Slave ⁠4 ⁠U", TMZ said.

Spears' ninth and last studio album, "Glory", came out in 2016.

In 2021, she was released from a 13-year court-ordered conservatorship set up and controlled by her father, Jamie Spears. The arrangement had governed Spears' personal life, career and $60 million estate from 2008 until it was terminated in November 2021.

Spears follows artists such as Sting, ​Bruce Springsteen and Justin ​Timberlake who have struck deals to cash in on their work.


Glitzy Oscar Nominees Luncheon Back One Year After LA Fires 

Brazilian actor Wagner Moura arrives to The Hollywood Reporter's Nominees Night held at the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles, on February 10, 2026. (AFP)
Brazilian actor Wagner Moura arrives to The Hollywood Reporter's Nominees Night held at the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles, on February 10, 2026. (AFP)
TT

Glitzy Oscar Nominees Luncheon Back One Year After LA Fires 

Brazilian actor Wagner Moura arrives to The Hollywood Reporter's Nominees Night held at the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles, on February 10, 2026. (AFP)
Brazilian actor Wagner Moura arrives to The Hollywood Reporter's Nominees Night held at the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles, on February 10, 2026. (AFP)

Hollywood stars embraced at this year's Oscars nominee lunch, the glamorous pre-show gathering that was canceled amid last year's devastating Los Angeles wildfires.

Timothee Chalamet, nominated for best actor in "Marty Supreme," flashed a smile while fellow Best Actor contenders Micahel B. Jordan and Ethan Hawke also flitted around the annual luncheon in Beverly Hills.

Mexican director Guillermo del Toro chatted with his tablemates as Wagner Moura, the Brazilian star of "The Secret Agent," enthusiastically embraced Stellan Skarsgard and Oliver Laxe -- the latter of whom has his film "Sirat" up for best international feature film.

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Lynette Howell Taylor praised the diversity of this year's nominees.

"Ballots were cast from 88 countries and regions," the British producer said, adding that "the mission of the Academy is to amplify your art, movies and your voices."

The more than 200 nominees enjoyed a buzzy afternoon, all the more energetic after last year's lunch was canceled as huge fires razed whole communities around Los Angeles. That year the lunch was replaced with a smaller dinner at the Academy's museum.

"This is a recognition of Brazilian cinema, and of the cinema of our region," Moura told AFP.

Nearby, "The Secret Agent" director Kleber Mendonca Filho joked he was feeling animated -- "like a generator."

Skarsgard said that the impact of international films is growing, as evidenced by his historic nomination for Best Supporting Actor for Norwegian film "Sentimental Value."

Foreign films and their stars typically notch nominations in the international categories, but Skarsgard is competing against nominees from US blockbusters, including Benicio del Toro in "One Battle After Another" and Delroy Lindo in "Sinners."

Benicio del Toro meanwhile told AFP he was doubly thrilled after watching fellow Puerto Rican Bad Bunny perform at the Super Bowl halftime show over the weekend.

"I got goosebumps," he told AFP, adding: "It was beautiful."

The luncheon's other legendary del Toro, the director Guillermo, meanwhile said he was "calm."

While his "Frankenstein" is nominated for Best Picture, del Toro himself is off the hook for Best Director, which he said took the pressure off him and meant he could focus on promoting his team.

"I'm happy because nine nominations don't happen every day," he said.

Lanky heartthrob Jacob Elordi, up for best supporting actor, offered a similarly toned down vibe at an impromptu photo shoot.

"I'm chilling," he said. "It's all good."