Any film that proves to be a box office smash hit virtually guarantees itself a pre-approved sequel, and 2012’s Magic Mike is no exception. Thanks to great reviews and a $167 million international return on a $7 million budget, Magic Mike 2 – or more specifically, Magic Mike XXL – will arrive in cinemas on July 3rd, 2015.
Magic Mike was loosely based on the experiences of the film’s producer and star Channing Tatum, back in his days as an 18 year old stripper. Co-starring Matthew McConaughey, Alex Pettyfer, Joe Manganiello and Matt Bomer, the film enjoyed critical, as well as commercial success. According to a recent interview with MTV, Tatum and writer/producer Reid Carolin have been writing the sequel for several months already.
This one will be a road trip movie. Without giving a lot away, we don’t wanna make it a really serious, slice-of-life movie. We want to have reality in it, but we don’t want to make it some dark drama. There was some darkness in the last one that I think surprised people and shocked people. This one, we want there to be a lot of conflict and a lot of struggle, but we also want there to be a shit-ton of fun. A shit-ton of just ridiculous stuff that you would never see in a movie.
So, here’s the thing. The first Magic Mike was a Steven Soderbergh film. That’s a very specific and unique cinematic tone, but he’s retired now. His replacement will need to either emulate that tone, or go in a completely different direction with it – possibly made easier by the road trip premise. While Tatum states categorically that he intends to head in a different direction, the replacement director is, in fact, Soderbergh’s First Assistant Director, Gregory Jacobs.
Will this team deliver a Magic Mike XXL to surpass the original? Check it out on July 3rd, 2015, to find out.