Abracadabra! The undulating ab bros are back to waive their magic wands in “Magic Mike XXL.”
That’s right, Channing Tatum and the rest of the Kings of Tampa are back in the buff for the 2nd installment of the glistening hit that was “Magic Mike.”
The sequel is slated to shake, shimmy, and floor hump its way into theaters in July 2015 and, according to people.com, the story will revolve around a road trip to a stripper convention.
Although it sounds absurd, stripper conventions are a real thing. The original concept of “Magic Mike” was a made for Hollywood reflection of Tatum’s real life experience as a male stripper. According to a interview he had with GQ Magazine, Tatum has had what he calls “absolutely insane” experiences while attending these allegedly raucous stripper conventions, giving him ample memories to draw from for the film.
The movie is being directed by Gregory Jacobs who was the first assistant director of the first installment in 2012. Although not directing, Steven Soderbergh is still heavily involved with the project in the capacity of director of photography, camera operator and film editor. So, that means a lot more of this…
So far Tatum and Joe Manganiello (“True Blood”) are the only two cast alums officially on board with the sequel project. Although I highly doubt we will see the recent Academy Award winner Matthew McConaughey back in chaps for the sequel, given Soderbergh’s continued creative presence, I think we will see all the other familiar chests… I mean faces… from the first film.
Tatum promised GQ that “Magic Mike XXL” will be “exponential[ly] crazier” than the original. Viewers beware and try not to compare, come July 2015 your eyes and brain will never see or think the same.
Who knows? Maybe Joseph Gordon Levitt aka JGL will get brought on after his “Magic Mike” tribute on SNL in 2012. That would be “insane.”