Watching Quentin Tarantino’s Hateful Eight come together brick by brick over the last year or so has felt akin to watching a tennis match. The film went from being green lit, to being shelved (following a screenplay leak), to going back into production in a matter of months; then came indecision over principal photography, first slated to begin in “fall 2014” before moving to a vaguely defined “early 2015” and eventually settling on this coming January for an official start date.

That’s not even to touch on the casting, which has in fairness remained the firmest thing about the entire picture from the beginning. (Note: that’s not saying much, of course.) A script read performed at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art this past May gave the impression that film had a core troupe in place, but as of today Jennifer Jason Leigh has apparently been cast in Amber Tamblyn’s part (possibly edging out Jennifer Lawrence) and Tarantino may be courting Viggo Mortensen, too.


So there’s a lot about Hateful Eight that’s still up in the air (officially, anyway), which may make Channing Tatum’s interest in the project attractive to the Inglorious Basterds director as he continues doing work to get the film ready for shooting in Colorado next month. According to the folks over at Deadline, Tatum wants in on Tarantino’s new Western epic – in which a divided, diverse group of strangers wind up stranded in a remote saloon with one another during a blizzard - and it looks like the 22 Jump Street actor has his eye on a major role to boot.

The specifics of the role remain unknown for now, but hopping aboard Hateful Eight would mean Tatum joining a team that looks to include Bruce Dern, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Madsen, Tim Roth, Ms. Leigh, and Kurt Russell. One look at that stable of names makes it pretty easy to deduce Tatum’s motivation; Hateful Eight is stacked with talented thesps, and of course there’s all of the cultural cachet that comes with being in a Tarantino film. Why wouldn’t Tatum get involved if there’s room for him?

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Tatum’s crowded schedule is likely the only obstacle in his way, assuming that he can secure a spot on the roster. The actor has Foxcatcher up next on his docket, arriving in theaters in just a couple weeks, and Jupiter Ascending opens in February; PA tours for both will almost certainly devour a good chunk of his time, over the next few months. Once both of those movies are behind him, he has Magic Mike XXL (which is currently filming) to promote for a Summer 2015 release.

If Tatum can juggle all of that and Tarantino thinks he’s right for Hateful Eight‘s tone, then he could make a great addition to the film. Let us know if you agree/disagree, in the comments section.

Hateful Eight will be in theaters some time in 2015.