Culture

Tatum and JGL Might Be the New Sinatra and Brando in a 'Guys and Dolls' Remake

Deadline reveals that Fox has snagged the rights to Guys and Dolls, the 1950 musical turned 1955 movie musical. And in the key roles of Nathan Detroit and Sky Masterson, Fox wants Tatum and Gordon-Levitt. Who's next?

By Esther Zuckerman
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When you see guys like Channing Tatum and Joseph Gordon-Levitt reach for stars in the sky, you can bet that they're doing it for some dolls. Maybe.

Deadline reveals that Fox has snagged the rights to Guys and Dolls, the 1950 musical turned 1955 movie musical based on Damon Runyon stories about gamblers and their love lives. And in the key roles of Nathan Detroit and Sky Masterson, Fox wants Tatum and Gordon-Levitt.

This is in no way a done deal, but it is surely an interesting development, which would put Tatum and Gordon-Levitt in position to step into the shoes of two of the biggest performers of all time, Frank Sinatra and Marlon Brando. Of course, this being a musical that's undergone a number of revivals, a wide range of actors have played these roles. If we're interpreting Deadline's phrasing correctly, and Fox wants Tatum for Nathan and Gordon-Levitt for Sky, that would mean that Tatum would take on a role once played by Nathan Lane. Now that's a weird thought.

Gordon-Levitt has basically been begging for a musical theater role ever since he did "Make 'Em Laugh" on Saturday Night Live. We know that Tatum can dance, both to "Pony" and to more classical fare. (And, let's remind ourselves, that Sinatra was a fantastic singer, Brando was not known for his vocal talents, and he did sing in the film, even though his was the role Sinatra wanted.)

If Fox really has their claws in these two, then the next question is who they'll cast in the equally important female roles: the show-girl with a cold Adelaide and the do-gooder Sister Sarah Brown. Our bets? For Adelaide: a comedienne like Anna Faris or Ari Graynor. Sarah Brown's a little trickier: Anna Kendrick, who could also do Adelaide? Amanda Seyfried? Or, maybe, God help us Anne Hathaway? She may or may not be headed to Broadway in another classic musical, after all.

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.