Channing Tatum will dance his way back into theaters for the release of Magic Mike's Last Dance. The third installment of the Magic Mike movie series, the film was originally slated for a streaming release on HBO Max. Switching gears, Warner Bros. has now moved over the film from the streaming platform to movie theaters by scheduling Magic Mike's Last Dance for a theatrical release on Feb. 10, 2023, which just so happens to be Super Bowl weekend.
As the title suggests, Magic Mike's Last Dance was developed with the intentions of concluding the story as a trilogy. It is written by returning screenwriter Reid Carolin, who penned 2012's Magic Mike and its 2015 sequel, Magic Mike XXL. Steven Soderbergh, who directed the original film but sat out the sequel, is back in the director's chair for Magic Mike's Last Dance. The cast includes Channing Tatum reprising his role as dancer Mike Lane while Salma Hayek also stars in a new role.
“Is there anybody on screen more charismatic and appealing than Magic Mike?” Warner Bros. Picture Group Chairman Toby Emmerich said in a statement when Magic Mike's Last Dance was announced. “We’re thrilled to be back in business with Channing, Steven, and their creative team to bring back Magic Mike’s wonderful combination of dance, drama, romance, and humor.”
Soderbergh added, "As soon as I saw what Channing, Reid, and the Magic Mike choreographic team did with the live show, I said, ‘We have to make another movie.’ Mike Lane’s dream of connecting people through dance must be realized."
The Magic Mike Movies Have Been Big Hits
Perhaps the new brass at Warner Bros. Discovery feels that too much money would be left on the table if another Magic Mike film was not released in theaters. The first movie was a huge hit at the box office, scoring more than $167 million against a budget of $7 million. Magic Mike XXL doubled the budget of the original film with around $14 million, and even without matching the profits of the original, it was still a big success with more than $122 million earned from its theatrical run.
Writer Reid Carolin has also said that the third film is only happening because a solid idea came along that differentiates the threequel from the first two movies. While a third installment would be likely to make money even as a rehash of Magic Mike or Magic Mike XXL, Carolin and Tatum were not interested unless there was a new angle that could be brought to the story of Mike Lane that would have the movie stand out on its own.
"There’s no way we’d be doing a third movie just because it pays," Carolin told IndieWire. "There’s no way we’d do a third movie just because someone called us up and said they’d pay. We had this weird idea in our minds that makes it a completely different film from the first or second one, in terms of genre and everything else about it. We have total artistic say in it. We’re exploring territory that we always wanted to explore in a film. “Magic Mike” gives us the ability to do it. That’s what fun about having the franchise you own."
Magic Mike's Last Dance will hit theaters on Feb. 10, 2023.