When he’s not spending his newfound retirement from film dropping novella truths on Twitter and promoting “Beyond the Candelabra,” Steven Soderbergh is also lending a hand to Channing Tatum on the sequel to their hit drama “Magic Mike.” Both have obviously cut out questions of a cash-in, and in a recent interview with the director, he’s pushed their case further as well as hinted at the film’s plot.
Last year, Tatum spoke about the sequel — as well as a lap-dance-heavy Broadway extravaganza — to the 2012 film, describing it as both a “road movie” and “broad comedy,” and also cited it as the desired project for his directorial debut (with producing partner/screenwriter Reid Carolin). However, the actor said later that he’d like to “start with something very small…make a lot of mistakes, make them real early, and then go jump in [on the sequel].”
Likely a wise move for Tatum, but Soderbergh is as confident as ever in the project’s prospects and story material. Describing the film as “getting pretty far along,” Soderbergh also explained, “There were some stories and events that Channing lived through that we just couldn’t fit in the first one. One of them is a really hilarious and very cinematic idea that we reluctantly didn’t put in the first film, because it was such a big idea you could build a whole film out of it – but we didn’t want to build that film out of it. It’s perfect for this, though.”
Leaving any further plot details out, Soderbergh went on to describe his role in the film, now that he’s trying to put himself at a remove from the industry. “I want to help. I have some proprietary feelings about it, obviously. I want to make sure it gets done and done well, so we meet every couple of weeks to talk about where it’s going. But it’s gonna be good. It’s a good idea. It’s not a retread. And there will be more time spent with the characters — all of them.”
So more Mike, Tarzan and, hopefully, Dallas (Matthew McConaughey), seems a certainty in the future. Now all that’s left to see is if Tatum grabs the directorial reins after all, and what his take on the material brings to complement Soderbergh’s vision. [PrideSource]