With his performance in 21 Jump Street, Channing Tatum finally put a bullet in the idea that he’s just a handsome, muscled lug who can grunt enough dialogue to get through a movie mainly on his physique. And though Magic Mike might look on the surface as though it’s a step back, there’s a lot more to it than Tatum and his co-stars crafting an American remake of The Full Monty. Check out the trailer over at Apple.
For a start, this is Tatum’s second collaboration with Steven Soderbergh after Haywire, and it was on the set of that film that the seed for Mike was sown when Tatum mentioned his history as a stripper in Florida. Intrigued, Soderbergh asked for a script, which Reid Carolin cranked out.
Magic Mike follows a wannabe stripper who goes by the stage name The Kid (Alex Pettyfer) getting some guidance from Tatum’s Mike Martingano. Mike takes the newcomer under his wing and introduces him to the life of men who take their clobber off in front of women. Their group includes Tito (Adam Rodriguez), Ken (Matt Bomer) and Big Richie (Joe Manganiello). They’re all overseen by slightly nutty stripper-turned-club owner Dallas (Matthew McConaughey).
But Mike wants to be more than a stripper: he’s got a real talent for creating custom furniture and is looking to his future. So when he meets Pettyfer’s sister, Paige (Cody Horn), he finds someone he can really talk to.
From the looks of the trailer, Soderbergh is aiming to please and Tatum has his charm on full force. Magic Mike is out on July 13. [[Poll665]]