Channing Tatum to Play a Soldier Again

Lasse Hallstrom (The Hoax) is set to direct Channing Tatum (Stop-Loss, GI Joe) in "Dear John," a Nicholas Sparks book adaptation that starts production in September. It is one of the first high-profile titles to be put into turnaround since New Line was downsized.

Tatum stars as a soldier who, while home on leave, falls for a conservative college student. "Dear John" is currently being sold at Cannes.

Sparks' books have been the basis for the films "Message in a Bottle," "The Notebook," "A Walk to Remember" and the recently completed Diane Lane/Richard Gere starrer "Nights in Rodanthe."