MOVIE BYTES: ‘Step Up’, ‘The Eagle of the Ninth’, ‘Son of No One’, and ‘Knockout’

While Channing Tatum's newly released romantic drama 'Dear John' continues to do well at the domestic box office (making well-over $53 million in the first week), remains a top topic of conversation on Twitter, and begins to release overseas, his numerous other projects continue to march on.

I found a few bits of news about Chan's past and future films 'Step Up‘ , 'Eagle of the Ninth', 'Son of No One', and 'Knockout' this past week. Check out today's Movie Bytes to get the latest scoop. Enjoy!!!

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STEP UP

Channing Tatum's and Jenna Dewan-Tatum's 2006 dance hit will premiere on ABC Family this week. Since the two tied the knot last July, we all now know for sure that the sparks between Chan and Jenna weren't just acting. Although they didn't start dating until after the film wrapped, fan's can watch the two fall in love for real on Sunday, February 21 at 8:30/7:30 Central. You can also CLICK HERE for more details.

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EAGLE OF THE NINTH

In addition to the official Facebook page, Focus Pictures just launched an official site and announced a release date for Channing Tatum's Roman drama 'The Eagle of the Ninth'.

For those who don't know, the movie is helmed by award-winning director Kevin Macdonald and is based on the best-selling, classic 1954 teen novel by Rosemary Sutcliff, and is set in the dangerous world of second-century Britain.

In 140 AD, twenty years after the unexplained disappearance of the entire Ninth Legion in the mountains of Scotland, young centurion Marcus Aquila (played by Channing) arrives from Rome to solve the mystery and restore the reputation of his father, the commander of the Ninth. Accompanied only by his British slave Esca (Jamie Bell), Marcus sets out across Hadrian's Wall into the uncharted highlands of Caledonia - to confront its savage tribes, make peace with his father's memory, and retrieve the lost legion's golden emblem, the Eagle of the Ninth. Donald Sutherland portrays Marcus' uncle Aquila, who has retired in Britain; Mark Strong is cast as Guern, an ex-soldier who holds crucial information about the Ninth.

Make sure you fan the Facebook page to get the latest photos, videos, and scoop on the film, which is now set to hit theaters in September 24, 2010. Fans can also CLICK HERE to see even more photos from the film in the CTU Photo Gallery.

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SON OF NO ONE

Deadline Hollywood is reporting that Channing Tatum's dramatic thriller 'Son of No One' just acquired a new distributor overseas. Here's what the site's founder and editor Nikki Finke had to say about the film's status and casting...

"Channing Tatum’s weekend success in Dear John comes at an auspicious time, as Nu Image takes over world sales agent duties in Berlin on what it says is his Son Of No One. Though UTA says there's no deal yet with its client, Channing is the draw in a drama that reunites him with writer/director Dito Montiel, with whom he made Fighting and A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints. The Montiel-scripted thriller is about a young cop who is at odds with his superiors and fellow officers over a murder cover-up. NuImage says Tatum's co-stars would be Katie Holmes, Terrence Howard, Ray Liotta and Al Pacino. Shooting begins April in New York. Hannibal Pictures put the pic together, with Millennium Films as producer."

In a recent Collider.com interview, Chan had this to say about the film when asked if his next Dito Montiel movie was going to be totally different from 'A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints'...

"It’s Saints-esque really. It’s like the grown-up “Saints.” Where “Saints” focused in on the kids, it’ll be flip-flopped. It’ll be focused on adults this time with kids as well. Look, that guy’s lived a crazy life and he’s known a lot of crazy people and this will be a true story or pieces of it, and it’ll be insane - (Robert) DeNiro, Ray Liotta, I don’t know if Terrence Howard is going to be in it, I think he might, and a bunch of other people with some really strong personalities coming in. It’s like a psycho cop New York thriller and it’ll be Dito-esque again. With “Fighting,” we just tried to go and do something fun, and then this is him going back and swinging for the fence again into his crazy mind. It’s an independent film so he’ll be allowed to do whatever he wants."

'Son of No One' is currently scheduled to be released in 2011.

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KNOCKOUT

As Chan posted in his Post The Love Valentine's Day message to fans, he's headed off to Dublin, Ireland to shoot Steven Soderbergh’s action-revenge spy thriller 'Knockout'. In case you missed it, here's Chan V-Day message to fans...

"My love goes out all this beautiful day of love!! So sorry I've been gone for the last few days. Things have been crazy with the film and I had to get ready to go to dublin for a new job. that will take me away from the ones I love in my life. Especially my wife, sorry baby. Anyways I will be post more soon. Love you guys."

The movie will star Mixed Martial Arts champion and non-actor Gina Carano in the lead role as a black ops spy that is betrayed by her team. Chan (who will also film some of 'Knockout' in Barcelona, Spain) will play one of the elite specialists on Carano’s team named Aaron — a military gearhead-type who’s sent to try and bring her back in once she’s been double-crossed and gone rogue; trying to figure out who exactly is setting her up. But there is no love lost between the characters which makes his mission more difficult.

The movie also stars Ewan McGregor, Michael Douglas, and Michael Fassbender and is scheduled to hit theaters some time in 2010 or 2011.

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