When the first trailer hit for Steven Soderbergh's MAGIC MIKE, my Facebook feed blew up with posts from women friends getting hot and sweaty over the buffet selection they had in-store for them in the months to come. Muscular dudes stripping with a story that has some heart and laughs? Soderbergh knew what he was doing.
I didn't think that there would be a sequel for the film, but apparently there is more from Channing Tatum's former life as an entertainer that didn't get to make the cut. Last year Tatum spoke about possibly directing the sequel making it his directorial debut, however he thought it might be best to make something else first to get the experience.
Soderbergh doesn't mention Channing directing but does talk to Pridesource.com about where they are at with the story, his involvement, and who of the original cast will be returning:
Pride Source: With "Magic Mike 2," have you thought about where you want the story to go?
Steven Soderbergh: We actually just had a meeting about it the other day. It's getting pretty far along. They've got a good idea. 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.
PS: How involved will you be?
SS: 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.
PS: You're not gonna tell me the idea, are you?
SS: Yeah, I don't want to share the details.
PS: Is the original cast returning?
SS: Oh yeah!