He may look like an impossibly chiseled slab of flesh – and, well, he is – but this past weekend Channing Tatum proved to America (and that foreign country called Hollywood) that he is capable of much more. With Magic Mike wildly overperforming at the box office to the tune of $39 million, it’s time to acknowledge that this one-time piece of eye-meat has opened the door to a new chapter in his career. It’s widely known that it was Tatum who approached auteur Steven Soderbergh with the idea for Magic Mike, as the film was inspired by Tatum’s own experiences as a male stripper when he was 18. For as long as he’s been entertaining audiences, Tatum has been seen primarily as nothing more than an object, but his aspirations are clearly to have a career that involves some brains, too. Below, we take a look at where one of the most buzzworthy actors in the world is headed, by way of his upcoming films.
more »
“We're trying to do our part to objectify men for the first time in movies.” Steven Soderbergh’s male stripper pic Magic Mike shimmies into theaters today powered by a charismatic turn by Channing Tatum and a hard-bodied supporting cast — but the tale isn’t all thongs, pelvic thrusts, and bachelorette party thrills. (Well, okay — it's got a lot of those things, too.) What secrets did Soderbergh, Tatum, and co-stars Alex Pettyfer, Joe Manganiello, and Matt Bomer spill about on-set nudity, overzealous extras, cross-dressing, and Tatum’s real life experience as a male stripper?
more »
Like the world of male stripping it inhabits, Steven Soderbergh's Magic Mike is naughty in gaudy but sanctioned and unthreatening ways. It teases with the promise of outrageousness, but underneath the G-string it's a practically minded coming-of-age story about a young man reaching the end of a years-long spiritual spring break. Choreographed stripteases and celebrity cast aside, the film has a lot in common with the director's 2009 The Girlfriend Experience — both are set in corners of the sex industry, share an undercurrent of economic instability and deal with how their protagonists' professions, the perception and the performative aspect of them, clank up against their personal lives. more »
Directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller made names for themselves with their feature debut, the animated Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, before moving on to direct Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill in the live-action hit 21 Jump Street. As they work up their next film — WB's live-action/CG blend LEGO adaptation, apparently titled Lego: The Piece of Resistance, based on the plastic toy building blocks — the duo are casting a few familiar superheroes to appear in the pic.
more »
Director Steven Soderbergh's Magic Mike debuted over the weekend, closing out the Los Angeles Film Festival. And while the Warner Bros film opens in theaters this Friday, fans may have the opportunity to see it live in the flesh as it were in the future.
more »
The promise of seeing Channing Tatum, Matthew McConaughey, and their manscaped compatriots bare (almost) it all in Steven Soderbergh’s Magic Mike has quickened the collective pulse of the film’s target audience in the weeks leading up to Friday’s release. But while ladies and many gents will get a titillating thrill from the scantily-clad dance numbers and cheesy-fantasy bumps ‘n’ grinds (and there are so, so many), what elevates the film beyond its “Showgirls-with-men” concept is the depth and naturalness in the story of 30-year-old star performer Mike (Tatum) and his pursuit of the American dream as one of the “Cock-rocking Kings of Tampa.”
more »
Also in Tuesday morning's round up of news briefs, BFI London Film Festival sets October dates and a revamp, former stripper colleagues accuse Channing Tatum of taking their experiences for Magic Mike and Welsh actor Victor Spinetti has died.
more »
Hot dudes and with asses in air… A few thongs and strippers galore. A party in Miami, Key West or Palm Springs? Nahh… It's Magic Mike of course and the latest trailer shows off a bit of skin courtesy of Channing Tatum, Alex Pettyfer, Matthew McConaughey — the resident hotties who will hold court in their sexiest in Steven Soderbergh's latest film. There was a time in the not too distant past that Soderbergh said he was "retiring" from filmmaking, but things clearly changed and he found inspiration to continue. Good for him, since most ladies (and some gentlemen) will likely enjoy the show.
more »
Guys, forget Step Up 4 and Battlefield America and the ballet documentary and the new season of ABDC: Magic Mike is the dance event of the year. Need proof? Let Channing Tatum and his gang of manscaped stripper men (Alex Pettyfer, Joe Mangianello, Adam Rodriguez, and Matt Bomer) show you their sweet moves to the tune of "It's Raining Men" in a new trailer for the June 29 ladyboner fantasy. I mean movie.
more »
Also among this morning news briefs: James Bond gets a complete retrospective in Los Angeles, a film journalist jumps to the production side, Men in Black 3 melts at the British box office, and more...
more »
In EW's upcoming cover interview, Magic Mike stars Channing Tatum and Matthew McConaughey fondly remember the moment on set when excited extras tasked with stuffing McConaughey's man-thong with dollar bills accidentally (or not) ripped the banana hammock right off. What's that, EW? You want me to watch a behind-the-scenes video of McConaughey striking poses while Tatum splashes around breakdancing in a pool of water? Well, fine.
more »
The more I see of Steven Soderbergh's Magic Mike, the higher it climbs up my most-anticipated list. Here's why: Shirtless Channing Tatum. Sensitive Channing Tatum. Dancing Channing Tatum! A cute romance with total girl next door Cody Horn. Rihanna on the soundtrack! They found love in a pantsless place, you guys. Watch the full trailer after the jump. Beefcake!
more »
Haha, it's a trick! There are no words.
more »
There was no shortage of stars coming through SXSW 2012, debuting films and projects as diverse as Joss Whedon's Cabin in the Woods to Lena Dunham's HBO series GIRLS. Take a look and see who else dropped in on Austin, Texas for the annual film festival, including: Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, and their 21 Jump Street crew, Willem Dafoe, Al Gore, Johnny Knoxville, Melissa Leo, Matthew McConaughey, Jack Black, Aubrey Plaza, Gabrielle Union, Bobcat Goldthwait, new director (!) Matthew Lillard, two Broken Lizards, model-turned-actress Dree Hemingway, and more.
more »
There’s a peculiar kind of pleasure to be found in watching Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill, in 21 Jump Street, horsing around and generally acting like doofuses for our amusement. As rookie cops assigned to patrol — by bicycle — a city park, they’re more than ready to prove their tough-guy status: When they spot a bunch of biker guys experiencing the joys of cannabis beneath a tree, they strut toward the gang in their shorts and bike helmets, but not before flipping their kickstands down with a mighty thwack. Later, Hill says a fervent prayer in the Catholic church that serves as headquarters for the undercover unit to which the duo has been assigned, its sign outside reading, in mistranslated Korean, “Aroma of Christ Church.” Hill kneels in front of the crucifix, beginning his urgent plea with the words, “Hey, Korean Jesus…” That irreverent riff captures the tone of the whole picture — it’s a ramshackle thing, a goof on the idea that anyone might actually care about a movie based on an old TV show, or that anyone might actually care about a movie at all.
more »
