The movie adaptation of Joe Haldeman’s Forever War has been in development purgatory for forever. But now there’s a full-on bidding war for a Forever War project in Hollywood, and surprise, it’s starring Channing Tatum.


THR is reporting that Sony, Warner Bros. and another nameless studio are all fighting to make scifi novel Forever War into a movie. Attached to the project is Jon Spaihts (screenwriter for Prometheus and and future mega-starred scifi flick Passenger) and the one and only Channing Tatum as the star. Warner Bros. is allegedly in the running, which is great for the film, but their current track record on marketing time-warping scifi books into film hasn’t been stellar.

The premise is complicated (but worth the read): The story follows a group of military recruits as they head off to fight a space war against the Taurans. After a few years fighting this alien foe the veterans return to Earth, but because of the distance traveled in space and many other variables their two years was actually multiple centuries back home. So the group returns to a place that is very unfamiliar to them all. Obviously, they struggle to adjust.


A long time ago, Ridley Scott was attached to this project and even debuted some of the earlier concept art. But now the producers are Roy Lee and Tatum. Look, if Tatum is what it takes for this movie to get made with a big budget then so be it. But let’s hope it works on some of the more dated themes from the original text.