Channing Tatum takes road trip with a canine companion in new movie 'Dog'

Channing Tatum is back at the box office with a story loosely inspired by Lulu, a dog he loved. The film also puts the actor in the director's chair for the first time.

"Dog" tells the story of an Army ranger trying to be cleared for work again after an injury. A superior tells him if he wants back in, he must first deliver a fallen sergeant's dog to his funeral. Man and dog head out on a life-changing road trip.

Oh--and the dog is named Lulu, after the beloved pet Channing Tatum lost in 2018.

"She was probably one of the first, like, true purest loves of my life," said Tatum. "She was, like, my little shadow. We didn't go anywhere, do anything without each other. I went up to Big Sur on kind of one of the last few days of her life and went on one last road trip and then, you know, we started the story."

Tatum is in the director's chair, with his longtime friend and collaborator Reid Carolin, who produced the "Magic Mike" movies.

"Imagine going to work with your brother, if you liked your brother, or, you know, your best friend, whatever," said Carolin. "Like, it's just--there's a shorthand there. You can kind of look at each other and just know what you're thinking and kind of what to do. So that's really nice."

This is a road movie - not a war film - but it was important to both men that they captured the right spirit of elite soldiers and their canine partners.

"It was really gratifying when they said, 'I can't believe you guys actually took the time to listen and get it right.' And so that meant a lot," said Carolin.

As for Tatum, he has a very natural way of talking to this dog. And he thanks the real Lulu for that!

"I kind of had been practicing and training for this movie for a really, really long time," said Tatum.

"Dog" is rated PG-13. It's in theaters on Friday, Feb. 18.