Magic Mike's Last Dance: Mike will finally have a relationship with his partner in this HBO Max sequel

In a roundtable discussion of Steven Soderbergh and Zoe Kravitz regarding their forthcoming film KIMI the director talked about the highly anticipated third installment in the Magic Mike storyline, titled Magic Mike's Last Dance. Soderbergh was also adamant about his desire to inspire Channing Tatum to keep telling the story, which is, in part, an inspiration for Tatum's time as stripper from Tampa, Florida.

Soderbergh was the director of Magic Mike, which was released in 2012. It was a massive success with critics and audiences, who not only praised the sex attraction and dance sequences but also the script, direction and performances. Tatum was in the film with Alex Pettyfer, Matt Bomer, Joe Manganiello, and Matthew McConaughey. Bomer and Manganiello will also be back with Tatum in the 2015 sequel Magic Mike XXL, this time directed by Gregory Jacobs, who was the first assistant director on the original film. The sequel was another success both critically and financially.

In the days when Magic Mike was still just one idea among many ideas, Soderbergh remembers pointing to it as the film Tatum should concentrate on. He explained that when Tatum presented the idea on the set of Haywire and it instantly attracted his interest. When the story was complete, Soderbergh was eager to be involved in making the project an actual realisation.

With a third movie on the way, which was announced in November and with the title  Magic Mike's Last Dance , Soderbergh gave us a preview of what we can expect in the final. He stated that, while he was sure that about the Magic Mike concept would be an enormous success, he didn't realize that Tatum was interested in expanding the universe of the film into a larger realm, one dealing with the subject of relationships, masculinity and respect. This was expanded in the second movie.

"The third film is sort like the culmination of all that we've been talking about in this subject. It's not just about taking the dance to another level, but really exploring the romance aspect that's been a major theme in all of the films. Mike has a relationship that's at the center of this movie, while the rest is happening. This is the first time we've done it."

Although Last Dance could very well be Mike Lane's last dance Soderbergh's return in the franchise is an exciting development. After the XXL sequel We've made it to the top, but there's more to learn about Mike's journey.