Wouldn't you have figured Channing Tatum would have found his way into a Nicholas Sparks movie before now? He's hunky and Southern and non-threatening, which is pretty much the ideal for any male star of the movies based on books by the author of The Notebook, A Walk to Remember and Nights in Rodanthe, among others.

Finally Tatum is taking the role he was born for in Dear John, a new weepie whose trailer has popped up on YouTube and is embedded below. Given how long it is and how rough it looks, I don't think this is an official trailer, so don't be surprised if it gets taken down soon. Still, if you want a good cry, you can't do much better than these three minutes and 50 seconds.

Tatum plays a soldier on leave in North Carolina who meets a local girl (Amanda Seyfried) and starts up a letter-writing romance. 9/11 gets involved somehow, as do multiple tours of duty in the Middle East and, of course, another man. It's directed by Lasse Hallstrom, who has known his way around some tears and romance in movies like Chocolat and The Cider House Rules. Check it all out in the trailer below. Dear John is set for a February 5 release next year.