During a roundtable interview of Steven Soderbergh and Zoe Kravitz regarding their forthcoming film KIMI, the director briefly talked about the highly anticipated third installment in the Magic Mike story, which is titled Magic Mike's Last Dance. Soderbergh also spoke about his desire to inspire Channing Tatum to carry on the story, which is, in part, inspired by Tatum's past as stripper in Tampa, Florida.
Magic Mike's Last Dance movie directed Magic Mike, which was released in 2012. The film was a huge hit with audiences and critics who not only praised the sex appeal and dance sequences but also the script, direction, and performances. Tatum appeared alongside Alex Pettyfer, Matt Bomer, Joe Manganiello, and Matthew McConaughey. Bomer and Manganiello were also back along with Tatum for the 2015 sequel Magic Mike XXL, this time directed by Gregory Jacobs, who was the first assistant director on the first film. The sequel was another great success, both financially and critically.
In the days when Magic Mike was still just one idea among many concepts, Soderbergh remembers pointing to it as the project Tatum should be focusing on. He said that when Tatum pitched his idea on the set of Haywire and it instantly attracted his interest. Later, when the story was completed, Soderbergh was eager to get on board to make the idea a realisation.
With a third movie coming soon, and announced in November titled Magic Mike's Last Dance, Soderbergh offered us a small preview of what we can expect in the final. He explained that while he was sure that his Magic Mike concept would be an enormous success, he didn't realize that Tatum was interested in expanding the universe of the film into a broader area, one that dealt with relationships, masculinity and respect, which expanded in the second movie.
"The third movie is kind like the culmination of all that we've been discussing in this subject. It's not just about taking the dance to a new level, but really exploring the relationship aspect that's been a major theme in every film. Mike is in a relationship central to this film, and all the while, everything else is taking place. This isn't the first time that we've done this."
While Last Dance could very well be the last dance of Mike Lane Soderbergh's return to his franchise is an exciting one. Following the XXL sequel we've made it to the top, but there's more to be revealed about Mike's life story.