Channing Tatum doesn’t mince words, “f**king hates” G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Whatever our thoughts about Channing Tatum may have been in the past, it's hard to deny that the actor has definitely stepped up his game in the last few years; but for a while there, Tatum was simply that guy from G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA. Tatum stopped by The Howard Stern Show and revealed how he felt about the film that helped shoot him in stardom.

Look, I’ll be honest. I f–king hate that movie. I hate that movie, I was pushed into doing that movie. From Coach Carter, they signed me to a three-picture deal […] I'm sitting there and they give you the contract and they go, "Three-picture deal, here you go." And as a young [actor], you’re like, "Oh my god, that sounds amazing, I’m doing that!"

Channing Tatum played Duke in G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA but the actor, who watched the original show every morning while he was growing up, revealed that he would much rather have played Snake-Eyes instead of Duke.

The studio calls up and they're like "hey, we got a movie for you, we're going to send it to you" and they send it to you and it was right during the writer's strike and it's G.I. Joe, and I'm like "I love G.I. Joe, can I play Snake-Eyes?" and they're like "no, not playing Snake-Eyes, you're playing Duke." […] The script wasn’t any good, I didn’t want to do something that I thought was 1.) bad, and 2.) I just didn’t know if I wanted to be G.I. Joe.

Despite the harsh words Channing Tatum admitted that he was "super lucky and blessed to have been given that film." While G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA will never be mistaken for quality cinema, I do recall it being a fairly entertaining albeit forgettable piece of entertainment. Channing Tatum returned to his role of Duke (briefly) in G.I. JOE: RETALIATION and a third film is still in the works. No word on if they'll be able to lure Tatum back for a third time as Duke.

Like Tatum, do you "f**king hate" G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA, or does the film not offend you quite that much?