Make sure you replace the batteries in your handheld fan before watching Magic Mike’s Last Dance because the film’s finale includes a 30-minute dance sequence. That’s right, folks! Thirty minutes of swiveling hips, vivacious voguing, and sweat pouring down like a cold November rain. Steven Soderbergh is returning for the threequel after Gregory Jacobs directed the second film in the series, Magic Mike XXL.
Speaking with Empire magazine, Soderbergh talked about the upcoming film’s big finish, saying, “We wanted to blow the dancing up in a big way.” Soderbergh then let the cat out of the bag by adding, “We have this dance number with Channing [Tatum] and Salma [Hayek] right up front. And then the last 30-plus minutes of the movie are just this giant dance sequence.”
Soderbergh says the sequence was filmed in an old South London theater named the Chapman Grand, which provided the team with a remarkable space for trying new ideas and making big moments even more enormous.
“My job is, how do I make each one of these distinct? I can’t shoot them all the same way, I have to come up with a different approach for each dance. And that was really the challenge,” Soderbergh said about the unique filming location. “That was fun, there’s not a bad angle to be had in that place.”
In addition to featuring glistening washboard abs, seductive dance moves, and stripping on a whole other level, Magic Mike’s Last Dance also focuses on Tatum’s Mike Lane falling for an unlikely partner (Hayek). “The first film was a fairly straightforward rendering of a set of characters who exist in a certain milieu that hasn’t changed since its inception. And the second film was pushing out a little bit to talk about what women are looking for on a night out in which fantasies and sexuality are explored — and how do you retain a sense of mystery, while still existing in an environment in which things like permission and consent are front and centre?” Soderbergh posited. “The third film just really dives into this in a much bigger way, partially because for the first time we see Mike in a relationship. So that just allows for a dynamic and a set of discussions that we haven’t had access to, prior to ‘Magic Mike’s Last Dance.'”
Are you prepared to witness a dance-filled finale to the Magic Mike franchise? How much money do you typically bring to a strip club? What are some of your best strip club-related stories? Please feel free to share in the comments section.