It’s Q’s Birthday and She’ll Give If She Wants To…The ‘Fighting’ Edition

I'm Q, CTU's webmistress, and today just happens to be my birthday. My motto is that it's much better to give than to receive, so two year's ago I started a new CTU tradition. Every year on my birthday I hold a contest where a lucky CTU reader can win an autographed gift from Channing.

To celebrate CTU's 2 year "official" anniversary (August 16th), my birthday, and today's 'DVD' and 'Blu-ray' release of Chan's movie 'Fighting' in the US, we're giving away a cool 'Fighting' Prize Pack that includes a free copy of the new DVD, a large 'Fighting' beach towel, a 'Fighting' tank top, and an autographed photo of Chan to one lucky Channing Tatum Unwrapped Official Fan Club member in the United States.

HOW TO ENTER THE CONTEST

Here's what you need to do to enter... Send an email to contests@channingtatumunwrapped.com with “FIGHTING PRIZE PACK” in the subject and the following information in the body of the email:

» CTU Fan Club User Name
» Your Twitter Profile (if you have one)
» First and Last Name
» Complete Physical Mailing Address

Each fan club member can enter the contest one time. Please do not submit multiple entries, because only your first submission will be used. The winner of the contest will be announced on Thursday, August 27th on Chan's official Twitter, but you are not required to have a Twitter account to enter. Please submit your entries by the end of the day TOMORROW!!!

Not a member of the CTU Fan Club yet? Fans can CLICK HERE for more info, and you can also CLICK HERE to quickly register for FREE.

GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE!!!

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NEWS FLASH: Channing Tatum’s ‘Eagle of the Ninth’ Starts Filming in Hungary

As I previously mentioned, Channing Tatum left for Hungary on August 9th to prepare for his upcoming film, 'The Eagle of the Ninth', after wrapping up the 'G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra' press tour. I even had a surprised Hungarian fan send me an email to let me know she may have spotted Chan running (his favorite exercise routine) on a bridge in Budapest. I don't know if it was actually him on that bridge or not, but I can confirm that filming began yesterday for the Roman epic that has been called a "'Braveheart' for a new generation".

There's a lot of fire power behind this movie...The film is directed by Academy Award winner Kevin Macdonald and produced by Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominee Duncan Kenworthy ('Four Weddings and a Funeral). In addition to Chan, 'The Eagle of the Ninth' will also star Jamie Bell ('Defiance', 'Jumper'), two-time Golden Globe Award winner Donald Sutherland, and Mark Strong (the upcoming 'Sherlock Holmes' and 'Robin Hood').

The screenplay was adapted by screenwriter Jeremy Brock (who previously worked with MacDonald on the award-winning 'The Last King Of Scotland'). Anthony Dod Mantle, who won the Academy Award earlier this year for his cinematography of 'Slumdog Millionaire', is director of photography, and 2009 Academy Award winner Michael O'Connor and Academy Award nominee Michael Carlin (both of 'The Duchess') are the film's costume and production designers, respectively.

'The Eagle of the Ninth' 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.

The film sold exceptionally well at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival by acquiring distributors in every major territory around the world, and the production will be shooting entirely on location in Hungary and Scotland for approximately 3 months.

'The Eagle of the Ninth' is scheduled to hit theaters some time in 2010!!!

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BLAST FROM THE PAST: Exclusive Childhood Photos of Channing from His “Karate Kid” Days

In many of Chan's interviews for 'G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra' he mentioned that, even more than Duke, he really wanted to play the role of martial arts expert Snakes Eyes. That particular dream started way back in elementary school when he was a talented karate student in Mississippi running around his backyard with his mom's stockings on his head (to mimmick Snakes Eyes).

Chan's favorite karate coach, Kenneth Hendrix, recently contacted me and was nice enough to share some great photos of Chan as a 5th grader, with his karate class as a green belt, and at Chan's red belt test. Here's what Kenneth had to say about the little boy that used his natural talents to make a huge impression on him (WAY before he ever impressed any of us)...

"I know you must be a very busy trying to keep up with Chan's popularity and demand. My two little boys think he's the man. Enclosed please find 3 photo's of Chan for your enjoyment. One is Chan at 10 years old in 5th grade, the next is me and Chan after his red belt test and the next one is a class picture with Chan (green belt) standing next to the Grandmaster of the system from Kuala Lumpar Malasysia-- Chee Kim Thong. 4 people from this picture along with myself later became AAU National Kung Fu Champions 1993-95 representing the US National team. Only 25 people were selected to this team. Chan was so good I have no doubt that he would have been there also. He was a nightmare to his competitors. It was amazing to see him in action. He looks the same to me just older. I have some more pictures I will send you along with some videos from back then. It is taking some time due to fact fact Hurricane Katrina destroyed most of my archives but some have survived.

In my minds eye I still see him as this 10 year old kid standing with his legs crossed chewing on a fingernail as he absorbed the lessons in class. He has surely turned into a fine, good-looking young man and I wish him the best along to his new Bride. Thanks for allowing me to send these to you to share for an early look at the sensation that has swept the nation now known as "Channing Tatum". You're doing a great job with the monumental task of keeping the public informed on Chan the Man. Send his parents my best..."

Sincerely,
Kenneth Hendrix

I can't thank Kenneth enough for the awesome photos and personal insights into Chan, and I look forward to being able to share even more with you all in the future. You can check out a few more personal pics that Ken sent me below. Enjoy!

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New Photos of Jenna Dewan at the Melrose Place Launch Party

In a previous post, I let you all know that Jenna Dewan has joined the cast of the new "Melrose Place" (the CW's highly-anticipated reboot of the popular 90's night-time soap opera) for at least two episodes in this upcoming season.

Yesterday, Jenna tweeted that she was going to attend the "Melrose Place" launch party, which was held in Los Angeles, California at the corner of Melrose Place and Melrose Avenue and included cast mates like Jessica Lucas, Ashlee Simpson-Wentz, Katie Cassidy, Michael Rady, Shaun Sipos, Colin Egglesfield, and Stephanie Jacobsen.

You can check out all of the new photos of Jenna looking especially hot in her Herve Leger dress in the slideshow below...

You can check out all of the new photos of Jenna looking especially hot in her Herve Leger dress in the slideshow below...

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"Melrose Place" will premiere on Tuesday, September 8 @ 9PM ET/PT on The CW (after '90210').

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New Photos of Jenna Dewan at Instyle Magazine's Summer Soiree

Young Hollywood came out in droves to InStyle Magazine's 8th Annual Summer Soiree at the London Hotel in West Hollywood, California Thursday night. Channing Tatum's wife, Jenna Dewan, was joined by celebs like Ashlee Simpson-Wentz, Jennifer Morrison, Katie Cassidy, Kellan Lutz, Krysten Ritter, and Shenae Grimes at the star-studded event.

Before going to the party, Jen took to her Twitter and let us know she would be wearing a Reem Acra dress to the event. Reem is a fav of Jenna's and also made the BEAUTIFUL wedding dress she wore last month. Unlike the 'G.I. Joe' Los Angeles premiere where Jen's zipper broke on the way and her stylist had to sew her into her dress, it seems that she may have avoided any wardrobe malfunctions this time and looks as gorgeous as always.

You can check out all of the new photos of Jenna at the event by clicking of the play button to view the slideshow below...

"Jenna Dewan: 2009 Instyle Summer Soiree"

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If you have any trouble viewing the slideshow above, you can CLICK HERE to see all of the new photos.

At the event E! News interviewed Jenna and it sounds like she wanted Chan to play Riley in 'Eclipse' just as much as othe 'Twilight' fans did. Here's what she had to say about the potential casting...

"I totally tried to get him to do it...I was like, 'Baby, do Twilight!' Oh, my god. I'm a huge Twilight fan. I've read all the books. So I was like, 'You should do it, you should do it, you should do it!'...I just saw the trailer for [New Moon] today," she said. "It's one of those things where I liked the books so much, I felt like a 10-year-old reading them. I finished them in like three days."

E! also asked Jen about the prospect of kids in the near future. Here's what she had to say...

"Ask me in a couple years...We do want them, just not right now. If I have three, if I have 10—I just want them to be happy and healthy kids."

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VIDEOS OF THE WEEK: Channing Tatum and Marlon Wayans Let Loose on the 'G.I. Joe' Press Tour

Channing Tatum's action film 'G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra' has already grossed over $200 million world-wide in the last two weeks, just premiered in India, Israel, and Greece this week, and will premiere in Croatia, Cyrpus, and Romania next week. Today's Videos of the Week are from the recent 'G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra' press tour.

The first video shows Chan and cut-up Marlon Wayans (who's one of Chan's best friends and was a groomsman in his wedding to Jenna Dewan last month) beat-boxing, free-styling, and starting a G.I. Joe vs. G-Unit feud with 50 Cent on Sirius' RadioPlanet.tv. Chan barely gets a word in edge-wise over always-animated Marlon, but the interview's HI-larious!!! Enjoy!

In the second video, Collider.com interviewed Chan at the Los Angeles premiere of 'G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra'. They talked to him about two of his upcoming projects, the Nicholas Sparks romantic drama 'Dear John' (out in February 2010) and the Roman Empire drama 'The Eagle of the Ninth' (which Chan is currently working on in Hungary). Enjoy!

If you have a favorite video that you would like me to consider, send a link to the video to votw@channingtatumunwrapped.com and tell me why you like it. I will post it and your explanation on the blog.

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AS SEEN ON TV: Jenna Dewan Joins the Cast of "Melrose Place"

A few weeks back, Channing Tatum's wife, Jenna Dewan, jumped off the big 'G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra' press tour train at their New York stop for a few days to get back to work in Los Angeles. She also recently tweeted about preparing for various auditions, and I'm really excited to tell you that she has officially landed at least one of the roles...

E! News and Entertainment Weekly is reporting (and Jen confirmed via her Twitter) that she will be joining the cast of "Melrose Place", the CW's highly-anticipated reboot of the popular 90's drama.

Executive producer Todd Slavkin confirmed that Jenna will appear in at least two episodes (episodes seven and eight) and will "play a movie executive named Kendra Wilson who works on the Paramount lot and has her eyes on Jonah Miller (Michael Rady), an aspiring filmmaker."

Her character is described as an "ivy league graduate, wickedly sexy and wickedly smart," and Slavkin said Jenna's "audition blew us away,", so they hope to see more of her beyond the current two episode commitment.

After the announcement today, Jenna tweeted, "Melrose place is a fun and sexy show and I'm happy to join." I couldn't be more happy for her. Huge CONGRATS to Jen!!!

Melrose Place will premiere on Tuesday, September 8 @ 9PM ET/PT on The CW (after 90210).

In the mean time, you can watch Jenna in her extremely popular Lifetime movie 'Fab Five: The Texas Cheerleader Scandal' on Saturday, August 22nd at 6:00 PM Central. Check your local listings for more details.

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CTU NEWS | Canadian Fans Can Win an Autographed ‘Fighting’ DVD With a Simple Tweet (or Two)…

Channing Tatum's action film 'Fighting' will be released on DVD and Blu-ray in the US and Canada on August 25th.

To celebrate the release of the film Universal Studios Home Entertainment Canada is giving away 15 autographed DVD's to Chan's CANADIAN Twitter followers.

If you live in Canada, entering the contest is really simple – just add the hashtag #FightingDVD to your tweets from today through August 25th.

We’ll randomly choose 15 winners and announce them on Chan's official Twitter each day from August 19th through August 25th.

Although any fan is welcome to use the #FightingDVD tag, you must live in Canada to win a signed DVD, since this is a Universal Studios Canada give-away. On August 25th, I will announce a special contest for CTU fan club members in the US, so stay tuned!!!

And remember...the more you tweet with the hashtag #FightingDVD, the better your chances are to win during the 7 day giveaway, so get to tweeting & tagging!

GOOD LUCK TO ALL OF CHAN'S CANADIAN FANS!!!

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IN THE PRESS: Channing Tatum, Jenna Dewan, and Their "Love Souvenirs" in US Weekly

Channing Tatum is currently working on his next film, the Roman drama 'The Eagle of the Ninth', in Hungary, but before he left on August 9th, both Chan and his wife Jenna Dewan shared details about their July 11th wedding with US Weekly at the 'G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra' premiere in Los Angeles.

You can click on the image below to check out the article...

A lot of fans have asked about Chan and Jenna's honeymoon tattoos. Jen's new ink is on her left foot, and Chan's is on his chest, under his rib area. Here's a photo of Jenna's sweet Balinese "Side by Side" tattoo...

The August 24, 2009 issue of US Weekly Magazine is currently on US newsstands, so make sure to get your copy!

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FAN ENCOUNTERS: Lucky Fans Hang Out with Chan on the 'G.I. Joe' Press Tour and at LAX

Although I've probably had more than my fair share of run-ins with Channing Tatum, I'm not the only fan with encounter stories, and I really love to read the ones you all send me.

Today's Fab Fan Encounters were submitted by what I'll call a new fan, aka Goodcooker (from the CTU forum), and a well-established fan, Jirleymar, who met Chan on the recent 'G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra' press tour. Here's Jirleymar's story...

“My husband and I had the privilege to meet Channing on August 5th, 2009. We found out he was gonna be interviewing on Regis and Kelly so we drove to NYC the night before (we live in Delaware) to try and get in the show. Turns out we didn’t get it, I am so thankful because it worked out even better! We got more face time and I even got to take a picture with him after he came out of the show. What can I say, I am always gonna be on cloud 9 over this. What an amazing man! Besides being beautiful on the outside, he is so down to earth. Channing took the time to sign his autograph, take pictures and chit chat with everyone. God bless his family for raising such an amazing man. Inspite of being gorgeous and famous, he is humble and does not seem to consider himself better than any of us.

While Channing got into his SUV my husband gave him my card (I am a stylist) and told him if he ever comes to Delaware to let us know and that he had us as friends. Channing was thankful and shook my husbands hand (i was frozen out of excitement!) The only thing I said was “congratulations on your wedding!”…To sum up, this day I will never forget. Such an amazing experience to meet him and I hope to see him again someday. Hands down a beautiful man inside and out!”

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Although Goodcooker didn't get a photo of Chan when they crossed paths on a Southwest flight from LAX on June 16th and oddly had never even seen one of Chan's movies prior to becoming a fan, I have to say that he captures one of the best mental pictures of Chan that I've ever read in any encounter, and I really want to thank him for sharing it in the CTU forum. Hopefully you'll enjoy his story as much as I did...

“Funny how things go. I wasn’t fully aware of Chan’s stature as an actor, but found myself spending a bit of time with him at the earlier today. He and I ran into each other standing in the security line at the Southwest terminal in LAX, and when both of us were figuring out which security station to go through, he let me go in front of him. Real nice guy. Of course, extremely good looking.

He was one of those very handsome guys that when seeing him, it makes me suck in my gut a bit, and thrust out my jaw to hide the second chin that has started to creep around my neck. You know, I’m the slightly insecure middle aged guy who has a great family and a job but who had also once hoped to be an actor, who sees a young kid, great smile, who has that ‘thing’ about him. Makes you wish you had that ‘thing’, but the only thing you seem to have is debt, flab, and a diminishing coolness that makes your daughter roll her eyes a whole lot more than you used to whenever you talk.

I start joking around a bit about the hassles of getting through security, having taken up five plastic bins between my shoes, sports coat, laptop, laptop bag, my other bag, etc. I had to stick the ticket and ID in my teeth while I grabbed everything else, saying stupid things which made him laugh. So when the security guard working the X-Ray machine hears him laugh and spots him, then says ‘I don’t care if they fire me’, stands up, comes around the machine and gives him a big hug (to his surprise), I figure something’s up.

Sitting down putting my shoes back on (ah, the hassles of getting through airport security), I asked a girl sitting next to me who he was. She told me he was “Chan… blah blah”. This wasn’t what she really said. This is just what I heard. The area was noisy, and my ears, even at 52 yrs of age, are not working as well as they used to. I let it go, and left for the gate.

When I reached the gate, I noticed him in the bar nearby having what appeared to be a light beer. He was also reading his Kindle (has the second gen version, not the latest larger format). I’m a Kindle user, and given our previous encounter at the security station, I did what a rarely do when I see a celebrity and approached him. I asked about his Kindle, and told him that although I didn’t know who he was, my daughter would kill me if I didn’t find out. He told me his name was Channing Tatum. Of course, no bells went off in my head. Who the hell is this guy? Sure, I watch a lot of films and television, and think I pay attention to a lot of it, but there are always those actors or actresses that slip through the mental cracks, whose films you just never got around to see, or almost watched, but something else came up.

He told me he was in the “Step Up” films, whose previews I’d seen, but never the films. Only recently, with my family’s love of the show “So You Think You Can Dance?”, we’d learned that Adam Shankman was making a 3D Step Up sequel, and I asked if he was involved in that, which he isn’t. Of course, he’s moved on from those films, but what the hell did I know? We talked a bit more, mostly about some of the films he’s been working on, but this time, a loud bar, and I only caught a few of the details. After a bit, I knew I’d outlived my welcome, so I wished him continued success and he graciously thanked me for that.

I finally boarded the plane and got a seat near the front, on the aisle. A few minutes later, he’s on the plane, and sits directly opposite of me. He didn’t notice that I was there until he sat down, and we laughed at the coincidence. What followed was an extended conversation about his work and views on what is going on in the film industry. He mentioned his work in GI Joe. I asked if he had ever worked with a “green screen”, which I assumed was needed for GI Joe. He said ‘no’ and commented on the challenges of interacting with people and things that are not actually there. He mimed a scene where he had to be shocked that someone was killed in front of him. I told him I’d take a part time job actually stabbing myself with a knife in front of him whenever he need any motivation to act shocked on screen. A joke of course, which yielded another warm laugh from him. We spent a good amount of time discussing the problem with making money on films today if they are not blockbuster Sci-Fi, horror or adult R rated comedies. Escapist fare. So many great films are bombing at the box office, and it doesn’t bode well for those actors who need great venues for expressing their acting talent within intimate dramas and independent films.

I asked if he thought that GI Joe, if a big hit, could catapult awareness of his talents to a broader audience than he’s ever had before. He wasn’t sure about that, and felt that he wanted to be more defined as an actor, and not just an action star. He knows his athletism helps him get roles that need that ability, but he really wants more chances to stretch his acting chops. When I told him that just based on our chat, I was going to visit Netflix when I got home and order all of his films, he laughed at that, and suggested if there was one film of him I should see, I should check out A GUIDE TO RECOGNIZING YOUR SAINTS, which he feels is one of the best films he’s ever starred in.

He was extremely cordial with me, and was very engaged in our chat. He also seemed to respect my lack of awareness of his star power and popularity, and didn’t seem at all bothered by it. I kick myself now in retrospect, having arrived home and checked out his film history and credentials online, since he is clearly a bigger Hollywood presence than I had thought.

Our chat ended as the plane took off, and we went back to reading our respective Kindles. I was tempted to ask for a photo, or get an autograph, but I felt in a way that doing that would diminish the gift of what had transpired during our brief visit. My last words to him was another wish for his continued success, and although I have just returned home and will order my Channing Tatum/Netflix film festival in a few minutes, I’m already a huge fan of this gentleman.

Now, not having asked for the autograph, I suspect when I see my 12 year old daughter later today, she will wonder what the heck I was thinking (I assume she knows who he is). I may lose another level of ‘coolness’ with her, but so it goes. She’ll just have to touch my right hand, which vigorously shook Channing’s hand after our chat.

It hasn’t been washed yet…”

Big thanks to Jirleymar and Goodcooker for sending in the awesome stories and photo! If you happen to run into Channing Tatum or Jenna Dewan, send your photos and fan encounter stories to fanencounters@channingtatumunwrapped.com. I will post them on the blog to share with envious fans all around the globe! ;-)

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PICTURES OF THE WEEK: Chan & Jenna’s Date Night at Madeo’s and Jenna at ‘Legally Blonde’ Premiere with Haylie Duff

Each week Channing Tatum Unwrapped will post one or more of our favorite pictures of the uber hot Channing Tatum and his gorgeous wife Jenna Dewan.

Last week, Jenna let us know via her Twitter that she and Chan would be going out to dinner at one of their favorite restaurants in Los Angeles and last night, she tweeted about the crazy LA traffic in route to the opening night for a play with her best friend Haylie Duff.

As proof of the aforementioned excursions, today's Pictures of the Week show Chan and Jenna spending some quality time together on a date as they leave Italian restaurant Madeo on August 7th and Jenna and Haylie at the Los Angeles premiere for "Legally Blonde The Musical" at the historic Pantages Theatre last night.

Haylie was a host and judge for the MTV show, “Legally Blonde: The Musical” which was created back in 2007 to find the perfect girl to play the lead role of Elle Woods, and the girls happily posed for pictures, signed autographs and gave interviews before heading inside for the show.

I also threw in a couple of cute personal photos that Jenna tweeted out this week that show her reading scripts and Chan and Jenna's adorable dog Meeka. Enjoy the show!!!

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Big thanks to Jenna for all of the great info and pics via her new Twitter. If you haven't been following Jenna's tweets, you really should, because she's great about letting fans know what she's up to and she even responds to fan's tweets!

If you have a favorite picture from this blog, our photo gallery, a picture you have made or a picture that you have found on the net that you would like me to consider, send the picture or a link to the picture to potw@channingtatumunwrapped.com and tell me why you like it. I will post it and your explanation on the blog. If you like or don't like today's picture (for some completely insane reason), let everyone know that too by clicking on the comments link below. :-)

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CHANNING TATUM VIDEOS OF THE WEEK: Bama News Report & ‘G.I. Joe’ Premiere Interviews

The first Video of the Week below is special for many reasons. First of all, it was submitted by Channing Tatum's mom Kay. Secondly, it features Chan's favorite place in the world, the family that he's extremely close to and those who knew CHAN way before any of us knew CHANNING TATUM.

If you read Chan's recent interview in the August issue of GQ, then you're familiar with his uncle Bruce. Bruce is Kay's brother and in her own words, she only has "one sibling and he is the best I could have asked for." In the WSFA news report below, meet uncle Bruce and the family and learn why Wetumpka, Alabama is the place where Chan will always go to get away from the world and remember his humble roots...


Here's the article that accompanied the video above...

"Wetumpka, AL (WSFA) - GQ FROM BAMA: It's tough to miss him these days, but nobody would have ever guessed Channing Tatum would have been a world wide superstar. He grew up in Cullman, lived in Tampa, loved visiting his uncle's ranch and Wetumpka, and even played a little college football. But then something happened that turned the country boy Chan into a young man who's now larger than life.

"He's a country boy at heart," said his uncle Bruce from his 300 acre ranch in Wetumpka. Chan spent a lot of time here as a kid, riding horses, fishing, just having fun. And if you question how much this place means to him, he told GQ magazine to come to Wetumpka to interview him and the family for his big story.

So how'd he get here? After quitting college football, Chan did some construction, worked at a perfume counter a Dillard's, took a shot as a model, and before you know it he was in commercials. It was a big surprise to uncle Bruce when he was watching TV one night. "We were watching TV and I was like, man that's Chan." Now it's tough to miss him wherever you look. He's starring in the new GI Joe movie and has several more lined up back to back after that. Uncle Bruce believes in Chan. "As long as he keeps his feet on the ground, and he'll do that, I've never seen him not get up and take a picture or sign an autograph."

As for his love for Alabama, his whole family came out to Malibu for the big wedding in July. He tied the knot with an actress he met while filming Step Up. The first song at the wedding, Sweet Home Alabama.

His cousins think it's weird to see Chan in a movie, it's not how they'd act with him at uncle Bruce's ranch. But they've learned to separate the actor Channing Tatum from their country boy Chan. Uncle Bruce sums it up like this: "He's always Chan, and he'll always be Chan."

I also found a couple more videos from the Los Angeles the premiere of Chan's film 'G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra' that I wanted to share. The first video is TV Guide's "Big Movie Premiere" show that features interviews with Chan, his wife Jenna Dewan, and the cast of 'G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra' at the New York press junket and the Los Angeles premiere that capped off their world-wide press tour. In the second video, we see Chan, Jenna, and their family arrive at the premiere and it also shows Chan interacting with the fans at the event. Enjoy!

Big thanks to Kay for letting me know about the great Wetumpka interview! 'G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra' is still the number one movie in the world and just premiered in Sweden, the Czech Republic/Slovakia, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, South Africa, Denmark, Iceland, & Norway this past week. Fans can CLICK HERE to buy tickets TODAY!

If you have a favorite video that you would like me to consider, send a link to the video to votw@channingtatumunwrapped.com and tell me why you like it. I will post it and your explanation on the blog.

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CTU NEWS: Happy Birthday to Channing Tatum's Fabulous Fans!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

to the following Fabulous Fans and Fan Club Members who have July birthdays:

CTU FAN CLUB MEMBERS

Lynn B.
Connie P.
Tiffanie M.
Angelina R. A.
Andreanne
Sarah S.
Ashley A.
Melissa C.
Madyson H.
Emily V.
Joanna B.
Tiffanie M.
Laura B.
Paul D.
Viviana V.
Amanda V.
Eileen P.
Cheukyee C.
Lynn B.
Kimberly S.
Walter N.
Angela H.
Joy L.
Melissa Y.
Amanda M.
Mary M.
Cynthia C.
Tiffany B.
Justin E.
Brodlyn C.
Johanna M.
Deanna I.
Helena B.
Nora S.
Holley P.
Julia E.
Nicole T.
Thomas K.
Katelyn L.
Samantha E.
Tabatha C.
Desirae N.
Kerry P.
Darren L.
Zahra C.
Lanita C.
Heather B.
Ann-Jeanett A.
Melissa F.
Sara R.
Palkovics B.
So W. T.
Elizabeth D.
Ron N.
Artem G.
Ellis B.
Sharil A.
Kimberly B.
Tanaia M.
Doana M.
George M.
Amber D.
Lisa B.
Rebecca M.
Leann B.
Kayleigh B.
Nancy S.
Leslianne N.
Yvette S.
Peggy Y.
Tiffany H.
Renay S.
Brooke R.
Tiffany L.
Robert H.
Sharon K.
Farrah A.
Uyen V.
Abby B.
Mandy P.
Tisha B.
Kylah Y.
Sheena D.
Jessica M.
Karen N.
Cindy K.
Rochelle D.
Blubbi U.
Vyke D.
Desiree R.
Emily N.
Jessica V.
Marlea C.
Melissa D.
Mohammed S. I.
Vanessa P.
Liccy G.
Delana W.

CTU READERS

Salma M.
Courtney B.
Eleonora S.
Crystal M.
Emily W.
Emily H.
Mariah W.
Shannon L.

And all other fans around the world with July birthdays!!!!

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The lucky winner of the autographed photo of Channing Tatum is CTU Fan Club Member...

TIFFANY B.
from Fort Hood, Texas

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Thanks to everyone who submitted birthdays!!! If you would like to get a birthday shout out from CTU, you can quickly join the CTU fan club to be automatically added to the monthly Birthday Program. Each month, I will make a post recognizing the most recent fan birthdays, and one lucky CTU Fan Club Member on the list will win an autographed picture of Channing Tatum.

If you are not a fan club member or would like CTU to give a birthday shout out to a friend of yours, send an email to fanbirthdays@channingtatumunwrapped.com with "BIRTHDAY" in the Subject and the birthday person's name and birth date (month, day, and year) in the body of the email. Also, please send a separate email for each birthday you're submitting.

Finally, each month I also add new fan club members to Chan's Top Friends on MySpace. The lucky fans this month are Kimberly S., Leann B., and Tiffany H.. Thanks again to everyone for taking the time to join the CTU fan club this month and make sure to add Channing's official profile to your friends on MySpace!!!

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CASTING NEWS: Channing Tatum to Star in 'The Darkness'

Channing Tatum has a ton of potential projects in the works, and the horror film site Bloody Disgusting just reported some casting news on a new one. I read this particular news item when they first posted it on July 28th, but wanted to confirm it before I reported it to you all.

I have now confirmed that Chan has indeed signed on to star in 'The Darkness', the latest film from The Pang Brothers Danny Pang Fat and Oxide Pang Chun who directed the Asian and English remakes of 'The Eye' and 'Bangkok Dangerous'. Like Chan's current movie, 'G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra', the film will also be based on a comic book adaption.

"The Darkness" comic series was created by Marc Silvestri, Garth Ennis and David Wohl, under the Top Cow Productions banner. Ironically, Top Cow is the same comic book company that's associated with Jenna Dewan's 2010 film 'Magdelena'.

Bloody Disgusting says that Chan will play Jackie Estacado, a hitman who “was targeted for assassination by the don of the New York mafia, ‘Uncle’ Paulie. He finds his body possessed by ‘the Darkness,’ a malevolent spirit that has inhabited his family for several generations, with the benefit of giving Jackie supernatural powers that feed off the dark.”

Although the film is currently in the very early stages of development and does not have a release date yet, I still want to say congrats to Chan on landing yet another role!

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