Paramount Pictures opened the studio gates Monday night to host the Los Angeles premiere of Roofman. Filmmaker Derek Cianfrance made the rounds with his actors, including title star Channing Tatum, Kirsten Dunst, Uzo Aduba, Melanie Diaz and Peter Dinklage. The film, which Paramount will release on Oct. 10, comes from a team of producers including Jamie Patricof, Lynette Howell Taylor, Alex Orlovsky, Duncan Montgomery and Dylan Sellers in association with Miramax.

Miramax CEO Jonathan Glickman was also on the scene. He and Tatum go way back after having made a slew of movies together over the years, including the 2012 box office hit The Vow. Roofman marks his first pairing with Derek Cianfrance, who previously directed 2010’s Blue Valentine and 2012’s The Place Beyond the Pines. He’s been wanting to work with Cianfrance ever since the former and reveals he felt “compelled” to make Roofman for a number of reasons. During a generous red carpet chat, the veteran Hollywood insider shares what those reasons are as well as his thoughts on President Donald Trump’s film tariffs proposal, what makes Tatum such a star and his hopes for Roofman box office returns.

He also nodded to how magnetic a marketing line like “based on a true story” can be, especially as it relates to this particular story. Roofman casts Channing Tatum as Jeffrey Manchester, an Army veteran and father struggling to make ends meet for his family. In doing so, he goes on a crime spree robbing McDonald’s restaurants by cutting holes in the location’s rooftops, a move that earned him the nickname. He’s apprehended by police and sent to prison, only to escape, after which he lives inside a Toys “R” Us location for six months. During that time, he falls for a woman named Leigh, played by Kirsten Dunst, a divorced mother who is drawn in by his undeniable charms until the authorities catch up to him.

You’ve been involved in some real-life stories in your day. What about this one made you want to get behind it?

A few things. First and foremost, Derek Cianfrance. I’ve wanted to work with him for more than 13 years or so, ever since Blue Valentine. This was the movie we were destined to make together. I’m so excited to bring a different side of him to the world. It shows a lighter side but it also still delivers the emotional heft of what you expect from a movie by Derek. There’s also no better marketing sell than the five words “based on a true story.” It’s an incredible story and one that if it was made up, you wouldn’t believe it. You never quite know where the story is heading. It completely surprises you at every turn. It’s also a unique story in that it features characters who are all trying to do the right thing but they have circumstances in their lives that mess with that. We can all sort of relate in one way or another.

His story is insane.

Yes. I shouldn’t take credit for it, but I came up with “based on a true story and bad decisions.” It’s so wild. Jeffrey Manchester wanted to do the right thing but felt he was forced into these decisions, which seem to be better for cinema than real life.

It’s Derek Cianfrance in a lighter form, and it also finds Channing Tatum hitting every shade of what has made him such a box office star. There’s not a ton of movie stars you can imagine that could play this part and be standing there in his underwear on the billboard …

A hundred percent. [Working with Channing] was the other thing that really compelled me to do this movie. This is the sixth movie I’ve made that Channing Tatum has been the star of, so I’ve seen all sides of him. I was lucky to be involved in the Jump Street movies, a couple of the G.I. Joe movies, The Vow, which was a great success we had together. He’s an incredible actor. He has a depth that surprises people and an authenticity that is totally real. There’s nothing he does in this movie that surprises me in terms of his skillset. When I read the script, I knew he could pull it off. I am emotionally involved with him at every turn of the story. There’s an almost docudrama aspect to his performance because you never question any decision he’s making. He goes through some wild emotional swings in this movie, and you buy every single one.

What are your hopes for this movie at the box office? It’s an unpredictable time for adult dramas or adult dramedies.

I have confidence in the box office on this film. We made it at the right budget so we don’t have to bring in Star Wars or Marvel-type numbers to break even. I also feel that it is a story that will play all over the country. It’s not a coastal movie. It’s going to do very well in the heartland. Channing is a surprising secret weapon. I’ve experienced it firsthand. The Vow did, I think, two times what they projected for opening weekend. I really believe that we have the opportunity here to touch hearts and make it work all over the country, and ultimately all over the world.

President Donald Trump doubled down on a film tariff proposal this week. What’s your take?

It’s hard to know. Obviously, this is something that’s going to play itself out and we’ll have to see where it goes. If it were up to me, we’d have a federal incentive to compete with these other nations. We make a lot of movies in the United States. We make a lot of movies overseas, and sometimes you have to do that because it’s the right place to make a film. I was lucky enough to oversee three James Bond movies. You couldn’t shoot all of those movies in the United States. Bringing attention to getting production back to the United States, and even back to this city, is a great thing. But how do we do that through tariffs? It remains to be seen whether that’s the right way to do it or not.