Charlotte gets shout-out in new trailer for Channing Tatum ‘Roofman’ filmed in city
The first trailer has been released for Channing Tatum’s new movie, “Roofman,” which was filmed in Charlotte and is based on an infamous Charlotte-area crime spree.
Tatum plays a former Army Ranger and struggling father facing financial hardships. To provide for his family, he robs McDonald’s restaurants by cutting holes in their roofs, earning him the nickname “Roofman.” After escaping from prison, he hides in a toy store. He begins a new life when he falls for a single mother (played by Kristen Dunst) and her two daughters.
In the trailer released Wednesday, Charlotte gets a shout-out when Tatum’s character claims to work in a classified department of the government. Another character who works for law enforcement states, “I never knew we had an intelligence unit here in Charlotte”
The movie opens Oct. 10.
The trailer already had been viewed over 3 million times on YouTube in its first 11 hours Wednesday. The movie sports the tagline “How far would you go to change who you are?”
The film is directed by “Blue Valentine” Oscar nominee Derek Cianfrance. Other cast members include Peter Dinklage, Ben Mendelsohn, LaKeith Stanfield and Juno Temple.
The movie is based on the true story of serial robber Jeffrey Manchester, known as “Roofman” or the “Rooftop Robber.”
Manchester broke into McDonald’s restaurants across the U.S. and in the Charlotte area by entering through the roofs. He was arrested in Gaston County in 2000.
Four years into his prison sentence, Manchester escaped from an Anson County prison and hitchhiked to Charlotte.
There he hid out for months in a Toys ‘R’ Us and abandoned Circuit City store on Independence Boulevard. Manchester lived off of baby food and snacks before being caught after leaving a fingerprint on a “Catch Me If You Can” DVD in the store.
More TV and movies filmed around Charlotte
Tatum, along with costars Adam Driver and Daniel Craig, also starred in another Charlotte-area crime film. The 2017 movie “Logan Lucky” was about two brothers’ attempt to pull off a heist during a NASCAR race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. That move was fictional, however.
But “Roofman” is the second high-profile film based on an infamous Charlotte-area crime following the 2016 release of crime comedy “Masterminds” about the notoriously botched $17 million Loomis Fargo heist in Gaston County from 1997.
It was the second-largest bank heist in American history at the time.
Other shows and movies filmed over the years in the Charlotte region range from “Homeland” and “Banshee” to “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” and “The Hunger Games.”
This story was originally published June 26, 2025 at 5:38 AM.
