Roofman: Channing Tatum crime comedy set for Oct release after TIFF

Paramount Pictures will release Roofman, a crime comedy starring Channing Tatum, in U.S. theaters this fall after the film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. The movie follows Jeffrey Manchester, a former U.S. servicemember who, according to the film’s synopsis, turned to a series of unusual robberies and later hid undetected inside a toy store while on the run. Paramount has scheduled a theatrical release for October 10; at least one report lists October 17.

Roofman dramatizes what promotional material and contemporary reporting describe as an astonishing true-crime episode. The central character earns the nickname Roofman by cutting holes in restaurant roofs to enter and rob McDonald’s locations. The film depicts Manchester escaping custody, taking refuge inside a Toys R Us for approximately six months, and forming a clandestine life that begins to unravel when he becomes romantically involved with Leigh, a single mother who works at the store. Accounts of Manchester’s military background vary; he is described in promotional material as a former Army Ranger and elsewhere as a U.S. Army Reserve noncommissioned officer.