Channing Tatum Teases Matthew McConaughey's Possible Return for 'Magic Mike's Last Dance'
When Channing Tatum hits the dance floor again for Magic Mike's Last Dance, Matthew McConaughey might be joining him. Now that Tatum is busy working on the third Magic Mike movie, he is teasing a return for McConaughey. The Oscar-winning star played Dallas, a mentor for Tatum's Mike Lane, in the first Magic Mike but missed the sequel, Magic Mike XXL.
"I didn't know if Matthew would want to do it, he loves what he did in the first movie so much. He was like, 'I don't want to touch it,'" Tatum told Entertainment Tonight over the weekend. "I mean, I'm not saying anything about mine or anyone else's performances. He was the star, he was the movie, it was special. I can't tell you how many times I had to watch the movie because of different edits Steven [Soderbergh] would do, and I would just fast forward to when he blew the fire, and I'm like, 'Yeah, he's a swan song.'"
Back in November 2021, Tatum confirmed that Magic Mike has one more lap dance in him. He tweeted a photo of the Magic Mike's Last Dance script title page, confirming Reid Carolin is writing and Steven Soderbergh will direct. Carolin and Soderbergh both worked on the original Magic Mike, while Gregory Jacobs replaced Soderbergh in the director's chair for XXL.
After Tatum tweeted the script page, Warner Bos. formally announced the project. Jacobs, Carolin, Nick Wechsler, and Peter Kiernan will produce the movie, which will be released exclusively on HBO Max. "Is there anybody on screen more charismatic and appealing than Magic Mike?" Toby Emmerich, Chairman of Warner Bros. Pictures Group, said in a statement in November. "We're thrilled to be back in business with Channing, Steven, and their creative team to bring back Magic Mike's wonderful combination of dance, drama, romance, and humor."
Rehearsals for the new movie are already underway in California, Tatum told ET. "We always laugh because if anybody ever came by and looked in the garage to see what we're doing, I can't even describe to you like what we were doing," he said, before teasing location shooting in London and Italy. That hints at new backdrops for the franchise, which has not left the U.S. before.
"You're getting 100 on this one," Tatum told ET when asked what fans could expect. "Put it to you this way, I'm putting everything and the kitchen sink on it because, in the first two movies, we really had to be honest about the reality of dancing in that world. Yet it's not the best dancing in the world but it's fun."
The success of the first Magic Mike caught everyone off guard. It cost just $7 million to make but earned over $167.2 million. XXL also earned critical acclaim and pulled in $122.5 million. Warner Bros. and Tatum expanded the franchise to other venues, including the Las Vegas show Magic Mike Live. The show's North American tour will start on April 6 in Nashville. The HBO Max reality show Finding Magic Mike was a competition for a spot in the show, with actor Adam Rodriguez as a mentor.