The Forever War (Channing Tatum)

A bidding war is underway for The Forever War, an adaptation of the classic sci-fi war comic by Joe Haldeman, to which Channing Tatum is attached to star.

Also making the package go supernova is the involvement of Prometheus and Passengers screenwriter Jon Spaihts and producer Roy Lee. Producing with Lee are Tatum and his Free Association execs.

The package started to heat up last week but went fiery Thursday when Warners, Sony and another studio were all ready to write checks.

The 1974 novel of a young man conscripted into a military task force in a war against an alien species named the Taurans. Through many battles, the man rises up the ranks of the military but travelling through space has time-warping effects, causing him to age normally but Earth to spin centuries.

The planet undergoes many changes, including the melding into one homogenous race, the elimination of heterosexuality, and the speaking of a new language.  At the same time, he tries to remain connected to his true love, a fellow (and female) soldier who also uses space-time to slow down her aging so she can be with him.

This development is a coup for the project and the filmmakers.

The book has been trying to make it to the screen it’s been published but few people had the rights to it. Special effects pioneer Richard Edlund (Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark) picked up the rights in the 1970s and controlled them for over 20 years.

Ridley Scott acquired the rights in 2008 and had been developing it as a directing vehicle. David Peoples, Matthew Michael Carnahan and Dante Harper worked on drafts of the script.

The new package came together when the rights lapsed recently. Edlund is still involved in a producer capacity.