Steven Soderbergh to Direct Channing Tatum in Male Stripper Film MAGIC MIKE
So, it looks like Steven Soderbergh isn’t really retiring after all. The director recently announced and confirmed his retirement plans on a podcast with NFL Network's Rich Eisen. He was supposed to stop making movies after he was done directing Liberace with Michael Douglas and Matt Damon, and possibly The Man From U.N.C.L.E with George Clooney.
Well, if he really is serious about retiring then maybe he shouldn’t be setting up anymore films for himself to direct. He just committed to directing another movie starring Channing Tatum called Magic Mike.
The story for the film is set in the world of male strippers. According to Deadline, “Tatum plays the title character, who schools a young dancer in how to hustle on and off the stage. It's a wild summer of dancing, partying and women. The inspiration for the film is Channing's own experiences as a stripper when he was 19.”
I've gotta say... I wasn’t expecting that, but here’s what Soderbergh had to say in a statement,
When Channing talked to me about this, I thought it was one of the best ideas I'd ever heard for a movie. I said I wanted in immediately. It's sexy, funny and shocking. We're using Saturday Night Fever as our model, so hopefully we're on the right track.
Tatum, who is currently shooting 21 Jump Street, went on to say,
This was a wild and pivotal time in my life and I couldn't be more thrilled to go down the rabbit hole with Steven.
Well, I’m happy Soderbergh has put this retirement thing behind him because I enjoy watching his films. I think he’s a great storyteller. Soderbergh just completed his action film Haywire with mixed martial arts fighter Gina Carano, Michael Douglas, Michael Fassbender, Channing Tatum and Ewan McGragor. That will released in August. After that, he will release Contagion, a drama about the outbreak of a deadly virus that stars Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Jude Law and Marion Cotillard. That film will be released in October. He will be directing Magic Mike somewhere between Liberance and The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
The director has got a good amount of films lined up, and I hope at this point he doesn’t stop making them. What are your thoughts on Soderbergh’s new film project?