Netflix Sets First Animated Film ‘America’; Channing Tatum Voicing George Washington

EXCLUSIVE: Netflix has stepped up to its first major animated feature film. It will finance America: The Motion Picture, an R-rated revisionist history tale about the founding of the country, with Channing Tatum voicing the lead role of George Washington. Dave Callaham wrote the script, and Matt Thompson is directing.

Callaham is producing and so is Thompson and his Floyd County partner Adam Reed, the duo behind the animated series Archer. Tatum is also producing with his Free Association partners Peter Kiernan and Reid Carolin, and The Lego Movie‘s Phil Lord, Chris Miller and Will Allegra at Lord Miller.

This is the first animated film for screenwriter Callaham, who hatched The Expendables franchise and more recently wrote Zombieland 2 and an untitled pitch New Line bought for Dwayne Johnson and Will Gluck. He’s also showrunner on Amazon’s Jean-Claude Van Johnson.

Besides Archer, Reed and Thompson’s animation credits include Sealab 2021 and Frisky Dingo. Tatum, Carolin and Kiernan produced Logan Lucky, the upcoming Steven Soderbergh-directed pic that Tatum stars in; he’s also co-starring in Kingsman: The Golden Circle and starts production soon on Triple Frontier. Free Association’s also prepping for the March 30 Hard Rock Hotel opening of Magic Mike Live Las Vegas. Besides the animated Lego Movie and Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs, Lord and Miller are directing the Han Solo Star Wars spinoff and writing the Lego sequel and producing the spinoffs and exec producing the 20th Fox series The Last Man On Earth, Son Of Zorn and developing the podcast Serial for TV.

Tatum and Free Association are represented by UTA, Management 360 and Hansen, Jacobson &Teller; Lord and Miller are UTA and Ziffren Brittenham; Callaham is represented by UTA, Kaplan/Perrone Entertainement and Hansen, Jacobson; and Reed and Thompson are CAA. UTA Independent Film Group arranged the financing.