Roofman Soundtrack Revealed: Every Song Fueling Channing Tatum’s True Story Movie
Channing Tatum’s Rooftop Robber turns the stranger-than-fiction saga of Jeffrey Manchester into a crime drama drenched in early-2000s needle drops, stacking far more songs than you’d expect. There’s no official soundtrack yet, but fans are already hunting down the featured tracks.
Channing Tatum made a crime drama about the Rooftop Robber and then stuffed it with more needle drops than some comedies. It works, weirdly. The movie leans into a Christmas vibe and an early-2000s playlist, which is not what you expect from a story about a guy hiding out in retail ceilings, but here we are.
The soundtrack situation
There isn’t an official soundtrack album (yet), but the film’s IMDb page lists the tracks that made the cut. A few of the entries on there look a little messy spelling-wise, but the lineup itself is real-deal eclectic. Here’s everything currently confirmed:
- Don’t Speak — No Doubt (4:23)
- Sleigh Ride — The Ronettes (2:55)
- Runnin’ Down A Dream — Tom Petty (4:22)
- I Can’t Forget — Evan Olson (3:20)
- Rescue Me — Angela Johnson (3:34)
- Jaded Heart — Limor (3:19)
- Free — Ultra Naté (3:35)
- Loyalty — The Tim Terry Experience (3:45)
- The Little Drummer Boy — Jim Nabors (3:08)
- Adeste Fideles — Vic Damone (2:37)
- Happy Christmas (feat. Tootls and The Maytals) — Byron Lee & The Dragonaires (3:34)
- Aud Lang Syne (feat. S.P.M) — Byron Lee & The Dragonaires (3:37)
- O Come All Ye Faithful — Various Artists (runtime N/A)
So… why all the holiday music?
Short answer: the movie is going for contrast. The real Rooftop Robber story brushes against the holidays in places (the source itself even throws in a parenthetical "doubtful" about just how Christmas-y the actual timeline was), but the film leans hard into seasonal classics and glossy pop to color the mood.
Composer Christopher Bear (yes, that Christopher Bear) builds a warm, melodic, soulful palette, then lets it run right alongside robberies, close calls, and the loneliest late-night wandering you can imagine. It’s a deliberate clash: bright, nostalgic songs over a very boxed-in life.
The movie underneath the music
Roofman tracks the stranger-than-fiction arc of Jeffrey Manchester: a run of heists, a chase, and eventually a secret living situation in an abandoned space by a Toys R Us. After closing, he’d slip into the store, eat baby food, and roam the aisles. That hideout ended with discovery and prison. The film frames it as a character study: once Tatum’s Manchester ends up isolated, the charm fades and you’re left with a guy trying to salvage a doomed romance, start over, and push back against system-level failures.
That’s where the song choices click. The upbeat pop and holiday standards don’t just set a tone; they underline how bizarre the circumstances are, and how out of sync Manchester feels with the world around him. Big, freeing music plays while he’s physically and emotionally boxed in. Critics have been into Bear’s approach because the score and needle drops are telling a second story at all times — one that doesn’t always match what you’re seeing.
Final notes
Even with the early-2000s fingerprints and the carol-heavy selections, the soundtrack isn’t just a gimmick. It keeps throwing off sparks against the film’s heavier themes, and that friction is the point. If a proper album surfaces, I’ll be first in line, but for now the IMDb breakdown is the best guide.
Roofman is currently screening in theaters worldwide.