Steven Soderbergh has directed a variety of iconic filmsincluding the original oceans trilogy, Erin Brockovich, Sex, Lies and Videotapesand, of course, two of the three magic mike movies. This week will see the release of his third film in the male stripper saga, Magic Mike’s Last Dance, which is already generating a lot of buzz. The first two films caused a stir, doing well critically and commercially. Although the films feature several strip club scenes with all kinds of sexy dancing, they don’t feature many actual sex scenes, and now the famed director explains why.
In a recent interview with rolling stoneTHE Contagion the director discussed his approach to directing and how he chooses his projects. He also talked about his approach to magic mike movies and what plot elements are important to him when he tackles a controversial topic. When asked why the magic mike The franchise doesn’t feature a lot of sex scenes, Soderbergh explained:
Everyone has a different attitude about [sex]. To me, it’s all about sexy. It’s not about sex per se and whether the movie is explicit. There is no nudity in Out of Sight. There is no nudity in Magic Mike’s Last Dance. There’s not even a thong. And yet, it was our desire to make a sexy film.
Obviously, the visuals and the suggestive nature of the film are more interesting to the director than the sex scenes. Based on much of his previous work, Soderbergh is much more interested in building tension and chemistry than choreographing explicit sequences. There’s a lot more to it magic mike movies than the subject matter suggests, and the director seems more eager to build character and story than titillate scenes. The filmmaker detailed his approach, saying:
What’s sexy is intimacy and genuine emotion. Something that feels alive and electric, and has the potential for vulnerability. It can be sexy. You let someone into your heart and it’s scary. You can hurt yourself. The really drastic thing to do right now, it seems to me, instead of showing the beginning of the relationship when there’s all this warmth and light because of attraction – it’s easy – it’s is to show people who have been married for twenty years that this is still true. Where you don’t even care. They have been together for twenty years and they are still in love with each other.
Soderbergh seems to take his characters and his stories seriously. Although there is clearly a sexy story at the center, much of the plot of the magic mike the films worldwide focus around the stripper performances and the blue-collar nature of the characters involved. The director gets some really great performances from the cast, and although Matthew McConaughey was snubbed from the awards circuit for the first film, many considered his performance Oscar-worthy. Magic Mike’s Last Dance probably won’t be any different, especially with Selma Hayek in the mix this time.
Basic plot details of Magic Mike’s Last Dance have already been revealed. The third episode again centers on Channing Tatum’s Mike Lane, who returns to stripping after a bad business deal goes wrong. He goes to London, where a socialite offers him the opportunity to put together a new list of dancers for a show. The movie looks like even hotter and sexier than the first two magic mike movies, so there is a lot to look forward to. Along with Soderbergh, the film marks the return of screenwriter Reid Carolin, who wrote and produced the other films in the franchise.
Magic Mike’s Last Dance hits theaters February 10, just in time for Valentine’s Day. Fans of the franchise are looking to revisit magic mike And Magic Mike XXL before the release of the last movie can do it now with a HBO Max Subscription. For more info on other movies hitting theaters this year, be sure to check out CinemaBlend’s 2023 Movie Release Schedule.