Channing Tatum opens NOLA bar

NEW ORLEANS, March 11 (UPI) -- Actor Channing Tatum, who filmed the action-comedy "21 Jump Street" in New Orleans, said he enjoyed the city so much he's opening his own Bourbon Street bar.

Tatum said he's excited about joining the French Quarter scene with the launch of his watering hole, Saints and Sinners.

"I love New Orleans, man. I love the spirit of New Orleans," The (New Orleans) Time Picayune said Sunday.

"I think [co-star) Jonah (Hill) wrapped it up perfectly: He said it's like the bad-kid island in 'Pinocchio;' The Bourbon Street area, Frenchmen, everything. It's just such a vibrant place. I love it down there," Tatum said.

Once the lease is finalized, he said, a quick remodel should see Saints and Sinners open for business in about two months.

"I don't think I'd ever open a bar anywhere else really, because I don't want to try to get people there," Tatum said. "But people come to New Orleans with a little bit of money in their pocket and they have one thing they want to do with it -- and that's spend it and party with it and go crazy."

"I want to facilitate that," he said.

Tatum has ties to the region; his father is from Metarire, La., and the actor spent much of his grade-school years in Pascagoula, Miss.

"21 Jump Street" opens March 16.