Channing Tatum’s Roofman: Here’s When You Can Stream the Wild True Story

Channing Tatum has gone from Magic Mike to rom-com treasure hunter to mutant cameo artist, and now he is crawling through the ceiling tiles. Roofman is out in theaters as of October 10, 2025, and it is one of those stranger-than-fiction crime stories that actually happened. Yes, the part about living inside a Toys 'R' Us is real. Buckle up.

Where to watch Roofman (and when it will probably hit streaming)

Right now, Roofman is only playing in theaters in the U.S. Tickets are up on Fandango. No digital or streaming date has been announced yet. Given the studio, expect Paramount+ to get it a couple months after release if they stick to their recent pattern.

Paramount has been running roughly 60-day theatrical-to-streaming windows in 2025. Here is the quick math:

• The Naked Gun: Theaters Aug 1, 2025 → Paramount+ Sep 30, 2025
• Novocaine: Theaters Mar 14, 2025 → Paramount+ May 13, 2025
• Smurfs: Theaters Jul 18, 2025 → Paramount+ Sep 16, 2025
• Roofman: Theaters Oct 10, 2025 → Paramount+ Dec 9, 2025 (expected, not confirmed)

The true story Roofman is pulling from

Roofman is based on Jeffrey Manchester, a guy who robbed multiple McDonald's locations, escaped prison, and then disappeared by living inside a Toys 'R' Us for months. He adjusted the store's cameras so he could roam around without showing up on the feeds and tucked himself into a hidden nook behind a bicycle display. He outfitted the space with inflatable furniture and a steady supply of Peanut M&Ms. It sounds like a screenplay pitch. It was real life.

Who is behind it, and who plays who

Directed by Derek Cianfrance, the movie tracks Manchester's balancing act: clever enough to dodge cameras and cops, desperate enough to try living above the action figures aisle. Channing Tatum plays Manchester. Kirsten Dunst plays Leigh, the woman he gets close to. Lakeith Stanfield plays Steve.

What the movie changes (and why)

As with most based-on-a-true-story projects, Cianfrance tweaks a few things to make the drama hit harder. In the film, Leigh works at the store and catches Manchester's eye there. In reality, they met at church. Steve is not a single real person but a composite of people from Manchester's past. The goal is obvious: give Tatum a human tether while still keeping the cat-and-mouse tension front and center.

The wild parts that are actually true

There are a few scenes that feel like the movie is pushing it, and then you find out they happened.

For starters, the dentist's office fire. That bit where Manchester torches a dental practice to cover his tracks? Not movie magic. He really did that.

The relationship with Leigh might read like a thriller subplot, but Manchester did use the alias 'John Zorn,' told her he worked for the government, and spent time around her kids. The film did not invent the double life, it just dramatizes it.

And then there is his reputation during the robberies. Reports at the time, including the LA Times, noted that he would ask McDonald's employees to put on their coats before he locked them in the freezer. That gentler touch got him labeled 'the gentleman robber' even as he was, you know, committing crimes.

Bottom line

Roofman sticks close to the unbelievable core of Manchester's story while sanding a few edges to make it play as a thriller with a pulse. Tatum gets a crafty antihero, Cianfrance gets a pressure-cooker setup, and we get a movie where the unbelievable parts are mostly the true ones.

Roofman is now playing in U.S. theaters. If the 60-day window holds, look for it on Paramount+ around December 9, 2025. Until then, grab a ticket and tell me if the Toys 'R' Us sequences are as tense for you as they were for my anxiety levels.