Magic Mike's Last Dance Was Inspired By Channing Tatum's Live Show
When "Magic Mike" — the comedy drama film about the world of male stripping, loosely based on Channing Tatum's own experiences — came out in 2012, the vast majority of viewers likely didn't realize that it would spawn not only a film franchise, but also a live stage show.
After the success of the first film — it made over $167 million worldwide, far surpassing its $7 million budget — it makes sense that those involved would want to move forward with a sequel. Said sequel, "Magic Mike XXL" came out in 2015 with Tatum and many of the other main cast members (such as Joe Manganiello and Matt Bomer) returning. Shortly after the sequel came out, Tatum and his co-choreographer and dance partner, Alison Faulk, began working on "Magic Mike Live," which was inspired by the scene in "Magic Mike XXL" when all of the male strippers perform at a convention. The live show premiered in Las Vegas in 2017, then a revised version premiered in London in 2018.
When Steven Soderbergh (director of "Magic Mike" and cinematographer and producer of "Magic Mike XXL) saw the live performance in London, he got the idea of the franchise's third film, "Magic Mike's Last Dance," which he ended up returning to the director's chair for. The film premiered in theaters in 2023.
Speaking to Vulture in February 2023, right around the time of the third film's release, Soderbergh said, "If Channing and Reid and the choreographic team hadn't created the live show, the movie wouldn't exist. There was no compelling reason to make a third film prior to that."
Soderbergh loved the idea of making a process film
During the conversation with Vulture, interviewer Matt Zoller Seitz asked director Steven Soderbergh what made him want to return to the world of Magic Mike for a third film. The director responded promptly: he loved the idea of making a process film, inspired by the real life "Magic Mike" live show.
When asked to elaborate, Soderbergh said, "What was most exciting for me after I saw the live show in its final form was the idea of making a movie about how Channing came up with that show. It sounds stupid to say that I was surprised at how good it was. After I saw it in London, I got on the phone that night and told everybody what I wanted to do, which meant setting aside the 'Magic Mike' Broadway show that we'd been developing for quite a while. So it was a big phone call."
Further, there were themes that Soderbergh wanted to explore, which could be seen, to begin with, in the live show. The director explained, "I think it's a very interesting time to be having conversations about what is desire, what is fantasy, what is the difference between sexuality and sensuality."
While Channing Tatum had his own conditions for returning to the franchise, it's good for fans that this bit of inspiration sparked a whole additional film.