(Frankly, I’m more scared by the picture on the left.  Is the butler there because… I got served?)

Producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura was recently trying to extend his option on a book about a mafia hitman, but the author turned him down… because he couldn’t stomach the thought of Channing Tatum in the lead role.

Phil Carlo tells us that after he penned “The Ice Man: Confessions of a Mafia Contract Killer” [about mob hitman Richard Kuklinski] in 2006, the book was optioned by di Bonaventura, producer of Transformers and G.I. Joe.

When the 18-month option ran out last month, di Bonaventura asked to extend the contract for two more weeks [don't you normally have to pay for that?  Isn't that like going to a restaurant and "asking" for a steak?], hoping he could complete financing for the movie. But Carlo says that when he heard Tatum was being wooed to star, he decided not to go ahead.

“I had to turn him down. I really hated the idea of Channing Tatum. I told di Bonaventura that this is not the guy to play one of the most feared killers of the 20th Century,” Carlo said. “I think Mickey Rourke would really be good. He’s got that sense of danger, and there’s a similarity between the two. But it’s not Channing Tatum.” [NY Post via Videogum]

Four out of five dentists agree, that’s a burn.  But that’s really mean.  Channing Tatum may have only played mumbly wiggers thus far, but… uh… at least he’s not Cam Gigandet?  And I know this is neither here nor there, but I like to imagine Channing Tatum and Josh Hartnett sitting across the table from each other playing “Go Fish.”  So much squinting!