Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Talks to Direct, Star in Musical Comedy With Channing Tatum (EXCLUSIVE)

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is eyeing a return to the director’s chair, tackling a movie musical with Channing Tatum by his side.

Sources tell Variety that Gordon-Levitt is in early negotiations to direct Universal’s R-rated musical comedy with the running title “Wingmen.” He’s already attached to star in the movie alongside Tatum.

Universal landed the pitch that Gordon-Levitt and “21 Jump Street” scribe Michael Bacall hatched last year following a competitive bidding war that saw several studios chasing the project.

The story follows two pilots who crash-land in Las Vegas. According to sources, the film is in the vein of “Pitch Perfect” meets “Book of Mormon,” with the dup covering Top 100 hits with a touch of adult humor.

The studio courted filmmakers that included Seth Gordon, James Bobin, and “Book of Mormon” director Casey Nicholaw before Gordon-Levitt threw his hat in the ring.

Marc Platt (“Wicked”) and Adam Siegel will produce for Marc Platt Productions, along with Tatum and his partners Reid Carolin and Peter Kiernan for Free Association. Gordon-Levitt will also produce with his shingle HitRecord Films. Kristin Lowe, senior VP of production, will oversee the project for Universal.

Production isn’t expected to start anytime soon as Tatum is about to begin shooting the Paramount action-thriller “Triple Frontier” opposite Tom Hardy. The actor can be seen next in Steven Soderbergh’s “Logan Lucky.”

Gordon-Levitt made his directing debut on the romantic dramedy “Don Jon.” He recently earned rave reviews for his performance in Oliver Stone’s “Snowden” and is currently developing a handful of projects, including “Fraggle Rock,” “Sovereign,” “K Troop,” and “In Sight.”

Tatum and Gordon-Levitt are no strangers to the song-and-dance world and both have also shown range in comedic roles. Tatum broke out in the dance film “Step Up,” and has continued to showcase his musical skills in films such as “Hail, Caesar!” and “Magic Mike.” Gordon-Levitt has sung live on his Pivot show “HitRecord.” The duo last starred together in the 2008 war drama “Stop-Loss.”

Gordon-Levitt is repped by WME and attorney Karl Austen. Tatum is repped by UTA and Management 360.