Channing Tatum really, really hated filming G.I Joe: Rise of Cobra

The Magic Mike actor was told "You're doing this or we're gonna sue you"

Channing Tatum

He might be one of the most in-demand actors around, with Magic Mike XXL just around the corner, but Channing Tatum still has a few regrets from his career, notably cheesy action flick G.I Joe: Rise of Cobra.

Even though it made a pretty decent $302 million worldwide, the 35-year-old actor told US radio DJ Howard Stern that he only took the part due to contractual obligations with Paramount.

“Look, I’ll be honest. I fucking hate that movie. I hate that movie,” Tatum said. “I was pushed into doing it. [After] Coach Carter, they signed me for a three-picture deal … And as a young [actor], you’re like ‘Oh my god, that sounds amazing, I’m doing that!”

But while he was a fan of the fictional super-soldier as a kid, he wasn’t crazy about doing the film when the studio called him up.

“The script wasn’t any good,” Tatum admitted. “And I didn’t want to do something that I … was a fan of since I was a kid and watched every morning growing up – and didn’t want to do something that was, one, bad and, two, I just didn’t know if I wanted to be G.I Joe.”

Tatum asked if he could play Snake Eyes, but “They’re like ‘No, you’re not playing Snake Eyes, you’re playing G.I Joe.”

Due to his three-picture deal, though, he had to play the part whether he liked it or not, explaining to Stern that there was never a scenario presented where he could opt out of the film.

“No option: ‘You’re doing this or we’re gonna sue you.”

Ever the optimist, though, Tatum reflected that it hadn’t harmed his career too much in the long run.

“I could have been given … Scream 5, or something,” he mused. Burn.