Not exactly sure when they started, but there had been rumors of Steven Soderbergh retiring. Well, it’s safe to say we can all breath a sigh of relief now as the filmmaker has a jammed packed schedule with no signs of slowing down. Ladies, get ready to have your dollar bills ready to “make it rain!” According to Deadline, Soderbergh is planning to direct STEP UP’s Channing Tatum in MAGIC MIKE, a story of friendship set in the world of male strippers.
Drawing on his past as a male stripper, Tatum will play 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. Tatum will be producing this script with Reid Carolin (the producer on Tatum’s upcoming TEN YEAR), who is also writing the script.
“When Channing talked to me about this, I thought it was one of the best ideas I’d ever heard for a movie,” Soderbergh said in a statement. “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.”
Said Tatum: “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.”
Tatum is currently shooting the sure to be camptastic 21 JUMP STREET and will next be seen starring in THE VOW with Rachel McAdams.
This new project comes after Soderbergh completed HAYWIRE, which is the director’s attempt at making an action star out of mixed martial arts fighter Gina Carano. He’s put her in an espionage drama and surrounding her with proven pros like Tatum, Michael Douglas, Michael Fassbender and Ewan McGregor in a film Relativity Media releases in August. Soderbergh followed that by shooting CONTAGION, a drama about the outbreak of a deadly virus that has Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Jude Law and Marion Cotillard starring, and Warner Bros releasing in October.
Soderbergh will be squeezing this in between his plans to direct Douglas and Damon in LIBERACE, and then THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E with George Clooney. I have hope that Soderbergh will be able to help Tatum turn in a decent performance. After all, Soderbergh is the man who helped porn star Sasha Grey into a “legit” actress in his surprisingly great film THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE. What are your thoughts? Are you eager to see Tatum re-enact his stripper past?
