Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum face off against Daniel Radcliffe in The Lost City first look
Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum had so much fun cracking each other up on the set of their upcoming film, The Lost City, that they have a theory — they're actually long-lost siblings.
As Bullock explains it to EW, the duo hypothesizes they were separated at birth, part of a "nature vs. nurture" experiment in the 1960s. "I don't know if it's because we've all been locked in our homes for so long, but if you can just sit in a room with someone and it's quiet and just for no reason start laughing, and you know why the other one is laughing but you don't know why the other one is laughing, it just makes things so much easier," the Oscar winner says of her relationship with Tatum.
"So yeah, I think we were separated at birth at some point in some sort of neurological experiment on brain development. And he and I feel that theory holds because no matter where you throw us, we're still the same." Tatum adds, "By the way, we should just make this movie. Maybe we will one day."
Kimberley French/Paramount "There's been a lot of insanely talented people throughout this entire industry, but I think very few people have run their business and navigated this world as well as she has," Channing Tatum says of his 'The Lost City' costar.
For now, though, the two are starring together in The Lost City — formerly known as The Lost City of D — and EW has the exclusive first look at the action-adventure comedy. Bullock plays brilliant but reclusive author Loretta Sage, famous for writing romance-adventure novels, all of which feature handsome model Alan (Tatum) on the cover. Alan, whom Tatum describes as a "modern-day Fabio," has dedicated his life to embodying the hero character, Dash. While on tour promoting her new book with Alan, Loretta is kidnapped by an eccentric billionaire named Fairfax (played by Daniel Radcliffe) who hopes that she can lead him to the ancient treasure from her latest story. Thrust into an epic jungle adventure, the unlikely pair will need to work together to survive the elements and find the treasure before it's lost forever. The film, directed by brothers Adam and Aaron Nee, also features Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Patti Harrison, Oscar Nunez, Bowen Yang, and a cameo by Brad Pitt.
Comparisons to the 1984 blockbuster hit Romancing the Stone, which featured a romance novelist trying to save her kidnapped sister by searching for a lost treasure, are apt and welcomed, according to both Tatum and Bullock. "They just don't make movies like that anymore. This is sort of one of those moments to see if we can land on a new version of that sort of genre movie... This is a completely unique, original story," Tatum says.
Bullock, who also serves as a producer on Lost City alongside Liza Chasin and Seth Gordon, says she and Tatum play polar opposites — her character is a shut-in, he's high on life — which she describes as a bit of a gender role reversal for the genre. "That's what's so much fun about it, you can take old setups and easily make them new. And the fun thing about the male-female narrative is that now we can turn it on its ear because it's no longer, 'This is the woman's role. This is the man's role.' You can mess with all of that and create a whole new dynamic. And that's sort of what we did," she says, crediting the pair's "true comedic partnership" with making it work.
Kimberley French/Paramount "He's just the actual coolest guy," Channing Tatum says of costar Daniel Radcliffe. "And when you talk to him, you're like, 'I'm just never going to be as clever and smart and interested as he is.' He's just 100 percent present all the time."
The onscreen duo is tightlipped about specifics surrounding Radcliffe's villain (above), but Bullock does tease that "everyone will get their minds blown over" his character. "He's so crazy handsome and devious," she says, adding, "I don't know how to explain him. But you wouldn't think that he plays sinister so beautifully and calmly and in such an attractive way. He's going to really surprise people."
Another fun surprise in the film is Pitt (below), whose cameo in the movie came about thanks to him sharing a mutual hairstylist with Bullock. The stylist, Janine Thompson, convinced Bullock to join Pitt in the forthcoming film Bullet Train in exchange for him joining Bullock in The Lost City. The action and stunt-heavy cameo was shot over just four days, but Bullock and Tatum both agree he stole the show. "And we let him. He just came in, and he tore it up. He's really funny," she says of Pitt. Adds Tatum, "He came in and played a certain character that fits into this weird world, and just signed up for it completely and wholly. I've met him, but to get to work with him was a whole different thing. I couldn't focus. It was really an out-of-body experience in a lot of ways."
Kimberley French/Paramount Brad Pitt, Sandra Bullock, and Channing Tatum run from the action in 'The Lost City.'
Ultimately, the film's stars just want the audience to have as much fun watching The Lost City as they did making it. "Movies for me and for my entire life have been escapism, and I've learned you go for entertainment, but with good movies, you end up learning lessons, because you get to watch characters learn things along the way and grow," Tatum explains. "I hope that people really love the devotion and the intention to make such an escapism film, and to try to give them something that is still emotional and that you care about, but yet still has real true fun." Adds his costar, "We're entertainment; we're not curing anything. We're here to take you on a ride. Hopefully, it's a fun one."
The Lost City hits theaters March 25, 2022, via Paramount.
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