The Magic Mike movies helped establish Channing Tatum as more than just a Hollywood pretty boy while furthering the genre-jumping reputation of director Steven Soderbergh. They also helped kick off the long-running partnership between the leading man and the director that led to such collaborations as Logan Lucky and Side Effects. Magic Mike and its sequel Magic Mike XXL were released to critical praise and grossed nearly $300 million combined. The unlikely and unexpected trilogy of movies will close out when Magic Mike’s Last Dance shakes its way into theaters.
The series centers around Mike Lane (Tatum), who, in the first film, is planning to run his own business one day but needs to get by. Before his lofty plans can take off, he takes on a string of odd jobs here and there to make ends meet, including a role as the star attraction at Xquisite Strip Club. The series has been able to take the relatively simple concept and stretch it out into two and now three movies. Here’s everything we know about Magic Mike’s Last Dance.
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Magic Mike’s Last Dance: The Plot
The plot details of Magic Mike’s Last Dance are scant as the titular character’s onstage clothing. But there is a general synopsis we can glean from. The movie starts with Mike Lane broke and back in the gig economy, tending bar in Florida after a big business deal is broken up. Hoping to get out of the red, Mike follows a rich socialite (Salma Hayek) to London for one last big gig. This entails bringing his dormant skills back to life and instructing the newest generation of dancers in the ways of the stage.
In an interview with The New York Times, Tatum gave some fun but still vague elaboration on the story of Magic Mike’s Last Dance, saying:
Tatum also told IndieWire:
…it’s going to be pretty bonkers. We’re kind of swinging for the fences — there never needs to be another stripper movie after this one. We’re trying to do a fish-out-of-water story where it’s a reverse-role “Pretty Woman” story that ends up with a lot of dancing in it.
With that in mind, what could be done to stretch the premise into a third installment? From the sound of it, Tatum and Soderbergh will be emptying the bucket to cap off the trilogy. It still isn’t a ton to go on, but if the trio of Tatum, Soderbergh, and writer Reid Carolin are pitching Magic Mike’s Last Dance as something even more over the top than its predecessors, it should wrap up the series with a few risqué numbers.
“In my opinion, we had chewed up 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 felt like, ‘Let’s do another movie and give those characters more real estate that we didn’t have before.’ Once we did that, we felt like there was no other story. Let’s just like get out of jail.”
Magic Mike’s Last Dance: The Cast & Crew
Warner Bros. Pictures
The engine of the Magic Mike series is obviously Channing Tatum returning as the ambitious but down-on-his-luck Mike Lane. We find him in a similar place to his situation in the first movie, broke and getting paid however he can.
Selma Hayek portrays an as-of-yet-unnamed woman of wealth who recruits Tatum’s Mike to whip a new crew of dancers into opening night shape 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.” Westworld’s Thandie Newton was initially cast in the role before being replaced by Hayek.
Filling out the cast will be 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) is helming the film as he did the franchise’s first entry, Magic Mike. Soderbergh stepped away for the production of its sequel. Magic Mike’s Last Dance is written by Reid Carolin, the scribe behind the entire series. Reid is a frequent Tatum collaborator, having just directed the actor in the drama/comedy Dog in 2022.
Release Date
Magic Mike’s Last Dance will saunter onto the stage on February 10, 2023, close to ten years after Magic Mike XXL. The Warner Bros. production will only appear in theaters upon release.
Magic Mike’s Last Dances actors and crew have been noticeably mum on details. But if we are to believe its billing from those involved, Magic Mike’s Last Dance will end the series on a wild set of moves.