Channing Tatum to join Jonah Hill's 21 Jump Street?

As much as I hate to admit it, the idea of Jonah Hill making a big screen comedy out of absurd 80s TV drama, 21 Jump Street, has sorta grown on me. I watched a few minutes of the old series, which featured Johnny Depp and the still hot Holly Robinson, and it's flat out ridiculous. The fact that it takes itself so seriously somehow makes it even more ridiculous. For those that don't remember or are too young to care, 21 Jump Street followed a group of young cops who solve crimes in high schools and colleges. Basically they're undercover NARCs.

So if you're going to try and bring the idea back you might as well poke a little fun at it.  Jonah Hill, who is producing and starring, has described his take on it as "Bad Boys meets John Hughes", a combination I can fully get behind.

With Hill locked in to one of the leading roles, and rumors of Emma Stone possibly coming aboard(one can only hope!!), Channing Tatum has now been confirmed to be in negotiations to take on the other male lead. Not that I'm a huge Tatum fan but he seems like a perfect fit for what this movie is trying to accomplish. You gotta have somebody with at least a touch of believability as a cop if this is going to work. I mean you couldn't have it be Jonah Hill and Michael Cera as a pair of cops, could you? No, of course not. Even for a comedy that'd be a stretch.

21 Jump Street is being directed by the duo of Phil Lord and Chris Miller(Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs), and is set for a March 16th 2012 release.