Channing Tatum Touts ‘Roofman’ as “Equal Parts Devastating, Emotional and Somehow Hilarious”

CinemaCon’s distinguished decade of achievement in film award winner Channing Tatum took the Colosseum stage on Thursday to talk up his new film Roofman.

Tatum, who will accept the honor at the convention’s closing night Big Screen Achievement Awards, appeared during Paramount Pictures’ studio presentation at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Roofman, set for release on Oct. 3, comes from filmmaker Derek Cianfrance, who also wrote the script with Kirt Gunn.

Based on a true story, Roofman casts Tatum as a former Army Ranger and struggling father who turns to robbing McDonald’s restaurants by cutting holes in their roofs, earning him the nickname “Roofman.” After escaping from prison, he starts a new life while hiding in a toy store, and falls in love with a single mother and her two daughters. However, his criminal past and a final robbery threaten to destroy his chance at redemption.

“I know everybody’s come and out and said they have something special to show you. They lied,” Tatum quipped. “I am the one who has something special to show you. That movie is Roofman, it is a really, really special movie.” He praised Cianfrance as “one of the more pure artists,” and whose name he enjoys saying because it makes him feel special and French. “He’s crafted this movie that is an immensely entertaining ride, equal parts devastating, emotional and somehow hilarious.”

The footage opened with Tatum’s character, Jeffrey Manchester, on a rooftop dropping through what appears to be a fast food restaurant. Once inside, he says, “Good morning, team” to the staff before forcing them inside a walk-in freezer. But proving the point that the thief was known as the kindest of criminals, he then offers one of the male staffers a coat before closing the freezer door. The roofman is then seen with his family at his kid’s birthday party when police descend upon the house and wind up arresting him after he attempts to sprint down the block.

Jeffrey is next shown heading off to prison, only to be mounting an escape in quick succession. The escape is a success, so he must find a place to hide where no one will find him. Jeffrey settles on a toy store, where he finds refuge in the ceiling and secret compartments. While inside, he surveils the employees and the store to make his escape. Some quick cuts show him in a Risky Business-style moment dancing through the store in white boxer briefs, and another shows him soaping up nude in the store until he’s discovered by a store manager, played by Peter Dinklage. Other scenes show him falling in love with a female staffer, played by Kirsten Dunst. But the action takes another turn as the love story takes him out of the store and out of hiding, only to be threatened with capture once again.

Ben Mendelsohn, LaKeith Stanfield, Juno Temple, Melonie Diaz, Uzo Aduba, Lily Collias and Jimmy O. Yang round out the starry cast. The project hails from Paramount in association with Miramax, FilmNation Entertainment and Von Waaden Entertainment. It’s being produced by Jamie Patricof, Lynette Howell Taylor, Alex Orlovsky Duncan Montgomery and Dylan Sellers. Tatum and Cianfrance get executive producer credits alongside Jonathan Glickman, Thom Zadra, Charles M. Barsamian, Jonathan Montepare, Chris Parker and Tyler Zacharia.

Cianfrance previously helmed a pair of Ryan Gosling starrers in Blue Valentine and The Place Beyond the Pines, in addition to helming The Light Between Oceans and the limited series I Know This Much Is True.