The magical mike films helped establish Channing Tatum as more than just a Hollywood handsome boy while furthering director Steven Soderbergh’s genre-jumping reputation. They also helped start the long-term collaboration between the lead actor and director that led to collaborations like Logan Lucky and Effects. magical mike and its continuation Magic Mike XXL were critically acclaimed and collectively grossed nearly $300 million. The unlikely and unexpected trilogy of movies will end when Magic Mike’s Last Dance shakes its way into theaters.
The series revolves around Mike Lane (Tatum), who in the first film plans to run his own company one day, but has to make ends meet. Before his grand plans can get off the ground, he takes on a series of odd jobs here and there to make ends meet, including a role as the star attraction at Xquisite Strip Club. The series has managed to take the relatively simple concept and stretch it into two and now three films. Here’s everything we know Magic Mike’s Last Dance.
Magic Mike’s Last Dance: The Plot
The plot details of Magic Mike’s Last Dance are sparse as the titular character’s stage clothes. But there is a general summary we can make. The movie opens with Mike Lane broke and back in the gig economy, tending bar in Florida after a big business deal falls. Hoping to get out of the red, Mike follows a wealthy socialite (Salma Hayek) to London for one last big gig. This involves bringing his dormant skills back to life and instructing the latest generation of dancers in the ways of the stage.
In an interview with The New York Timesgave Tatum a fun but still vague elaboration on the story of Magic Mike’s Last Dancesaying:
… it gets pretty bonkers. We’re kind of swinging to the fences — there never has to be another stripper movie after this one. We’re trying to make a fish-out-of-water story where it’s a “Pretty Woman” reverse role story that ends with a lot of dancing.
Tatum also told IndieWire:
“In my opinion, we had chewed all the meat on the bone, story-wise. We didn’t plan on making a second one. Then all of our ancillary characters were so good and fun that we thought, ‘Let’s do another movie and give those characters more real estate than we had before.’ Once we did, we felt like there was no other story. Let’s just get out of jail.’
With that in mind, what could be done to extend the premise to a third? Sounds like Tatum and Soderbergh will empty the bucket to close out the trilogy. It’s still not a ton to go through, but as the trio of Tatum, Soderbergh, and writer Reid pitch Carolin Magic Mike’s Last Dance as something even more over the top than its predecessors, it should round out the series with some bold numbers.
Magic Mike’s Last Dance: The Cast and Crew
The engine of the magical mike series is clear that Channing Tatum will return as the ambitious but hapless Mike Lane. We find him in a similar place to the first movie, broke and paid as he can.
Selma Hayek plays an as-yet-unnamed woman of wealth who recruits Tatum’s Mike to whip up a new troupe of dancers in opening night form in London. In the Magic Mike’s Last Dance trailer, Hayek’s character says, “I want every woman who walks into this theater to feel that a woman can have whatever she wants, whenever she wants.” from Westworld Thandie Newton was initially cast in the role before being replaced by Hayek.
The cast is completed by Juliette Motamed (We are Lady Parts), Ayub Khan Din, Jemelia George and others.
Celebrated director Steven Soderbergh (Out of Sight, Ocean’s 11, Erin Brockovich) directs the film while doing the franchise’s first entry, Magic Mike. Soderbergh stepped away from production on the sequel. Magic Mike’s Last Dance was written by Reid Carolin, the writer behind the entire series. Reid is a frequent Tatum collaborator, having just directed the actor in the drama/comedy Dog in 2022.
Publication date
Magic Mike’s Last Dance will saunter onto the stage on February 10, 2023, nearly a decade later Magic Mike XXL. The production of Warner Bros. will not hit theaters until after release.
Magic Mike’s Last Dances actors and crew were noticeably mum on details. But if we are to believe the accounts of those involved, Magic Mike’s Last Dance will end the series with a wild sequence of moves.