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Channing Tatum’s Military Film ‘Dog’ Was Inspired by Personal Story

The movie called “Dog” starring Channing Tatum, which just hit theaters today, may hit close to home for a lot of viewers. It certainly does for Tatum, seeing as it’s all based on a true and very personal memory.

The movie “Dog” follows U.S. Army Ranger Jackson Briggs (Tatum). He is given a new task that involved bringing a dog named Lulu down the Pacific Coast so she can attend her handler’s funeral. The military dog has an owner that is a fallen soldier.

The two depart together, which is when things get truly entertaining. As it turns out, Briggs and Lulu don’t really get along and a lot of chaos comes from the road trip. The film also stars Jane Adams, Kevin Nash, Ethan Suplee, and Emmy Raver-Lampman.

An Inspiring, Personal Story for Channing Tatum

For Channing Tatum, this is a very personal project for a number of reasons.

First, Tatum is the writer, co-director, co-producer of the film. This also marks his return to acting after taking several years away.

Mostly, it hits close to home because the story is inspired by the loss of his own dog, also named Lulu. During an interview with Yahoo! Tatum shared that the movie is inspired by his last road trip with his dog Lulu. His dog was a pit bull Catahoula mix. When Tatum found out his dog was diagnosed with cancer in 2018, he decided to take her on one last epic road trip.

He took this time to enjoy Lulu’s company before she sadly passed. The movie “Dog” is quite different. Instead of focusing on the dog’s death, “Dog” is like the beginning of a story. It will show the beginning of a dog-owner relationship and the beginning of lasting memories.

“Developing it [Dog] and really talking about what dogs mean and what dogs mean to specifically me, or to soldiers, or to anyone really, and primarily we landed on this word ‘surrender’. And that was to me really what I had to learn. When I went on my last road trip with my puppy, [I experienced] that feeling of, ‘There’s nothing I can do. There’s nothing left to do.’ You just have to accept it and be thankful for the time that you did get and know that they’re not supposed to be here forever. I’m supposed to go on and she has to go someplace else,” Tatum said to the news outlet.

Challenge of Starring In and Directing ‘Dog’

Recently, Channing Tatum appeared on “The Kelly Clarkson Show” to talk about his new movie.

Kelly Clarkson said that she believes the movie takes people on an emotional rollercoaster. Not only does it make you laugh, but it makes you stop and think about some important subjects. Clarkson also asked Tatum what it was like to both star in and direct this new picture.

“It was a lot harder than I expected it to be. We thought it was a simple movie, you know it’s me and a dog and whatnot but at the end of the day, I probably won’t direct again if I’m going to be in the movie. I’m in every frame of the film and to try and direct, you don’t have any time to actually go watch what you’ve just done. It’s a little frustrating,” Tatum said.