Movies

Salma Hayek Joins ‘Magic Mike’s Last Dance’ After Thandiwe Newton Exits Movie

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Salma Hayek has joined the cast of Magic Mike’s Last Dance, following Thandiwe Newton’s exit from the long-awaited movie. Speaking to ET, A Warner Bros. Pictures studio spokesperson explained, “Thandiwe Newton has made the difficult decision to step away from the production of Warner Bros. Pictures’ Magic Mike Last Dance to deal with family matters.” The outlet then reported that Hayek has been confirmed as taking on Newton’s role.

The first two Magic Mike films were both big hits with critics and fans alike, leaving many eager for more of the male stripper crew. It seems Tatum has also been looking forward to revisiting the franchise as well, with production seemingly already underway. “We’re gonna go big,” Tatum recently said of the third Magic Mike film. “I mean truly, we’re not gonna leave anything on the bench. We’re taking it out, we’re putting it on stage, it’s gonna be wild.” He added, “I was like, ‘Why are we going to make a third one if not just go really, really, really for the stars?’” Commenting on being back on set, Tatum said “it’s been fun reuniting with the crew,” and added that the series is “kind of like home” for him.

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While fans will have to wait a while to see Tatum back in action as the magical Mike, they can see him right now in The Lost City, opposite Sandra Bullock. In the film, Bullock play Loretta Sage “a dissatisfied middle-aged author who writes romance-adventure novels centered around a fictional hero named Dash, who is portrayed by dimwitted cover model Alan Caprison (Tatum). While on tour with Alan to promote her new book, Loretta is kidnapped by Abigail Fairfax (Daniel Radcliffe), an eccentric billionaire who believes that the lost city in Loretta’s new book is real and that she knows where it is; Alan, despite having no survival skills, goes off to rescue her.” Brad Pitt also appears in the film, as does Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Patti Harrison, Oscar Nuñez, Raymond Lee, and Bowen Yang.

In March, Bullock sat down with Stephen Colbert to talk about the film, and shared a hilarious story about one of the scenes in which she had to be up close and personal with Tatum’s naked body. In the scene, Bullock’s character has to pull leeches off of Tatum’s character while he’s practically nude. She revealed to The Late Show that there is no special movie effects taking place and she really was touching Tatum. “Full-on, face-to-face, with the landscape,” Bullock said, explaining that she and Tatum were actually right in one another’s personal space during the scene. “I had to spend some time down there. Just making sure uh, no leeches. I had a lot to say to it.”