“We gave them no direction, just the title,” Jimmy Fallon explains. “We asked them to write scenes based on what they think a movie called ‘Magic Mike’ would be about.” And with that “Magic Mike XXL” star Channing Tatum is put through the dog and pony show of late night TV, but hey, at least the segment is amusing.
So for “Magic Mike XXL,” Matthew McConaughey, Alex Pettyfer and Cody Horn are gone, but it’s interesting to see how much the sequel has diversified with their absence. Having much bigger roles in the follow-up film are Adam Rodriguez and Gabriel Iglesias and the cast also includes, Jada Pinkett Smith, Donald Glover, Stephen "tWitch" Boss and Michael Strahan in not insignificant roles either (also new to the cast are Andie MacDowell and Elizabeth Banks).
Considering how much the urban and Latino audiences are underserved at the movies, the diversity of the cast feels like a very smart move. You already know “Magic Mike XXL” is going to be huge with the ladies—the original was already a big, profitable surprise hit in 2012—so to extend its reach feels wise. This time, the movie is a roadtrip story and director Steven Soderbergh lets his producer and creative right-hand-man Gregory Jacobs take over the reins. With “Magic Mike XXL” in theaters very soon, July 1st, Warner Bros. has released seven new clips from the film. Watch below and whet your appetite for Mike.