Channing Tatum To Star In Drug Cartel Drama ‘Bloodlines’

This summer, Netflix wrapped up “Bloodline,” a twisty drama about the black sheep of a prestigious family, who got caught up in drug smuggling. Now, Channing Tatum is gearing up his own drug cartel flick called “Bloodlines,” and yes, they probably could’ve picked a different name.

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That aside, the project sounds fascinating, based on Melissa Del Bosque‘s upcoming book “Bloodlines: The True Story of a Drug Cartel, the FBI, and the Battle for a Horse-Racing Dynasty,” which tells the story of a rookie FBI agent working in Texas, who stumbles upon a major money laundering operation run by a Mexican cartel. Here’s the book synopsis:

Drugs, money, cartels: this is what FBI rookie Scott Lawson expected when he was sent to the border town of Laredo, but instead he’s deskbound writing intelligence reports about the drug war. Then, one day, Lawson is asked to check out an anonymous tip: a horse was sold at an Oklahoma auction house for a record-topping price, and the buyer was Miguel Treviño, one of the leaders of the Zetas, Mexico’s most brutal drug cartel. The source suggested that Treviño was laundering money through American quarter horse racing. If this was true, it offered a rookie like Lawson the perfect opportunity to infiltrate the cartel. Lawson teams up with a more experienced agent, Alma Perez, and, taking on impossible odds, sets out to take down one of the world’s most fearsome drug lords. 

Jonathan Herman (“Straight Outta Compton,” the developing “Scarface” remake) will write the script for the film, which is set up at Universal. No word yet on a director, but this one already sounds quite cinematic. [Deadline]