At least part of Channing Tatum’s success as an actor can be attributed to how self-aware he is. He knows he looks like the human incarnation of a fist bump, and he plays off of this musclebound image with intelligence and good-natured humor. Also, he’s a really good dancer.
Both of these traits are on display in the first trailer for Magic Mike XXL, which begins with Tatum channeling Flashdance—another movie whose main character engages in both metalworking and exotic dance—in his garage with some welding tools. Then we hear the opening strains of Ginuwine’s “Pony,” and soon Magic Mike XXL takes a turn for the ridiculous. How could you not, for a movie about a group of male strippers on a road trip to perform in Myrtle Beach?
Directed by Steven Soderbergh’s longtime assistant director Gregory Jacobs, Magic Mike XXL appears to be more of a pure comedy than its predecessor. But then again, people went into Magic Mike expecting a celebrity Chippendales revue and got a dramedy about a guy who really just wants to make custom furniture. We’ll find out which approach Jacobs has decided to take when Magic Mike XXL premieres on July 1, 2015.