Channing Tatum and Joseph Gordon-Levitt in talks to star in 'Guys and Dolls' remake

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Having finally secured the rights to Guys and Dolls, 20th Century Fox will soon begin developing a remake of the stage and movie classic. With this lucrative acquisition, the studio is hoping to skew younger, eyeing up Channing Tatum and Joseph Gordon-Levitt for the roles made famous by Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra, respectively. While no writer or director is attached, both Tatum and Gordon-Levitt are said to be interested in teaming up for the project.

The background on the project, via Deadline, which initially broke the story:

While we are all waiting for the eventual movie adaptation of stage hits like Wicked and The Book Of Mormon, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a musical adaptation get the kind of rise out of movie stars that Guys And Dolls has each time a movie deal was rumored. Years ago, it looked like Harvey Weinstein was getting the rights, with his Chicago exec producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron producing the film. Thesps from Russell Crowe to Vin Diesel, Hugh Jackman and others all tossed their hats into the ring to play the leads. Trouble was, Jo Loesser, the widow of songwriter Frank Loesser, never found a deal to her liking and declined to sign over the rights. Until just recently.

The musical was taken from Damon Runyon’s short stories that captured the rogue gangsters and gamblers of the 1920s and 1930s. Here, Nathan Detroit (Sinatra) has a town full of captive gamblers and wants to set up a floating crap game but needs money to do it. He bets his pal Sky Masterson (Brando) that Sky can’t get the wholesome Sarah Brown (Jean Simmons) — who runs a mission — to go with him to Havana. Frank Loesser wrote the music and lyrics, and Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows wrote the book. It won the Tony Award for Best Musical when it premiered in 1950, and won the 1951 Pulitzer for Drama, until the troubles Burrows was having with the House Un-American Activities Committee caused the Trustees of Columbia University to veto the selection. Guys And Dolls was then turned into the 1955 movie. The classic Loesser songs included Luck Be A Lady, and Sit Down, You’re Rocking The Boat.

If you need an example of how Channing Tatum and Joseph Gordon-Levitt would work in a musical setting, look no further than this year's Academy Awards, where Tatum danced with Charlize Theron while Gordon-Levitt performed a song-and-dance number alongside host Seth MacFarlane.

What do you think of this potential remake? Hit the comments and let us know!