In the history of cinema, there have been countless stories of stars turning down roles they later regretted. Will Smith has spoken often about his decision to turn down The Matrix. However, we may have a new champion in the competition for the worst decision ever, as it turns out, Channing Tatum once said no to Guillermo del Toro.
In a recent interview with Vanity Fair, the star of the upcoming movie Roofman reveals that he was once asked to star in Del Toro’s planned live-action version of Beauty & the Beast, years before Disney would turn its animated hit into a live-action musical. Unfortunately, it seems the offer just came along at the worst possible time, leading the actor to pass on the project. Tatum said:
One of the biggest mistakes of my career: Guillermo del Toro wanted to do Beauty and the Beast, his version of the Beast. And I’d just had a baby, I was on a movie that was absolutely killing me, and the script wasn't totally there yet. I was just in a place in my head that I was like, 'I don't think I can do this right now.' It was the biggest mistake, because I'm the biggest Guillermo fan ever. And I think Guillermo doing Beauty and the Beast would've been the sickest movie ever.
While Channing Tatum regrets turning down the part, the circumstances surrounding it explain a lot. Sometimes you get opportunities you dream of, but at times they simply don't work out. That seems to be what happened here. Had the actor been in a different place in life in that moment, he clearly would have said yes. It doesn't sound like he regrets turning down the role so much as he regrets having to do so.
For those who were unaware, or simply forgot, back in 2012, it was announced that Del Toro was working on a Beauty & the Beast adaptation, which coincidentally would have starred Emma Watson in the Beauty role years before she took the part for Disney. By 2014, Del Toro had stepped away as a director, but the project was still set to move forward. Eventually, like other Del Toro projects, such as At The Mountains of Madness, it would simply fade away unmade.
It’s unclear exactly what the reasons were behind the movie not happening, so it’s equally unclear if the movie would have even happened had Channing Tatum said yes. However, there were never any names officially attached to the role of the Beast, so it’s possible that an inability to find somebody was part of the problem. Perhaps if Tatum had said yes, the movie would have happened.
Del Toro would go on to make an Oscar-winning version of Pinocchio, and his new adaptation of the classic Frankenstein is getting strong buzz following its premiere. One has to think his version of Beauty and the Beast would have been, at worst, unique, and at best, something truly special.
And who knows. Projects that once seemed dead have been resurrected in the past, so maybe Del Toro’s Beauty & the Beast could still happen one day. If Channing Tatum gets the offer, it seems quite clear he’ll take it.
