Magic Mike

Started by MacGuffin, May 12, 2011, 08:02:06 PM

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MacGuffin

Alex Pettyfer To Co-Star With Channing Tatum In Steven Soderbergh's Male Stripper Pic
BY NIKKI FINKE | Deadline

EXCLUSIVE: This is going to gobsmack almost everyone in Hollywood. Not only did Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh just choose 21-year-old newcomer Alex Pettyfer for this juicy role in Magic Mike. But also, as Deadline has previously reported, the film has such an interesting storyline because the plot revolves around Channing Tatum's real-life stripper sojourn. Now Pettyfer will play a young Tatum baring it all while Channing plays his older mentor. Pettyfer recently starred in I Am Number Four and Beastly, and will appear this fall opposite Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried for New Regency in a film that was called Now, and just changed its name today to In Time. Soderbergh's Magic Mike is the story of a friendship set in the world of male strippers. Tatum plays the title character, who schools a young dancer (Pettyfer) in how to hustle on and off the stage. It's a wild summer of dancing, partying, and women. The inspiration was Channing's own experiences as a stripper when he was 19. With Tatum, Nick Wechsler is producing with Gregory Jacobs and Reid Carolin who is writing the script. Soderbergh has called the film "sexy, funny and shocking" using Saturday Night Fever as a model.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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Mr. Merrill Lehrl

This immediately became my most anticipated movie.  I hope it's not the kind of Soderbergh project that only gets talked about.
"If I had to hold up the most heavily fortified bank in America," Bolaño says, "I'd take a gang of poets. The attempt would probably end in disaster, but it would be beautiful."

MacGuffin

Matthew McConaughey To Play Ex-Stripper In Steven Soderbergh's 'Magic Mike'
Source: Playlist

Richard Linklater, William Friedkin, Lee Daniels, Jeff Nichols and now Steven Soderbergh. These are just some of the helmers Matthew McConaughey has worked since with 2009's "Ghosts Of Girlfriends Past," the tedious rom-com that seems to have spooked the actor into ditching the easy paychecks that required little more than taking off his shirt, and digging into some real material. That said, this next project may find a reason for the actor yet to flex those pecs.

McConaughey has now joined Channing Tatum and Alex Pettyfer in "Magic Mike," Soderbergh's account of the male stripping biz in the story about a experienced stripper (Tatum) who teaches a younger dancer (Pettyfer) how to hustle his wares on stage and off. Penned by Reid Carolin, the film is inspired by the Tatum's own experiences and thus, he's also producing the film as well. McCounaughey will play Dallas, a former dancer himself who now owns Xquisite, the established where the titular Magic Mike struts his stuff.

There's still more casting to come, including supporting part for an actress (it was offered recently Brit Marling who turned it down due to a potential scheduling conflict). The low budget film—operating on a lean $6-7 million pricetag—begins shooting next month and has put together a pretty interesting cast. It's yet another step in a new direction for Soderbergh, taking on a world that has barely been explored to the big screen and we're keen to see what kind of aesthetic he brings to the material. No distributor is lined up yet, so we'll have to wait to find out just when and how this will roll out.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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MacGuffin







Release date: June 29, 2012

Starring: Channing Tatum, Alex Pettyfer, Olivia Munn, Matthew McConaughey

Directed by: Steven Soderbergh

Premise: An upstart male stripper is taken under the wing of a more experienced colleagues.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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Pozer

Tragic Steve.

is he sodonebergh yet or what?

Jeremy Blackman

Uhhh wow. That looks unbelievably bad.

Quote from: Jeremy Blackman on November 15, 2011, 09:39:09 PMThey just put the worst parts in the trailer, right?

I couldn't stand that banter even in 5-second doses. This is doomed.

I bet Robin Wright shows up unannounced in the middle of the movie.

BB

Yeah, that trailer doesn't bode well for this being what I thought it was gonna be.

Not that my hopes were all that high but I expected some grime. Some sleaze. You know, sad man putting his dick in people's faces. Getting some desperate bride-to-be to lick the whip cream off. Extreme cock hubris. Gay for pay. Bang-Bang Bart and so forth. Or, if they wanted to keep it light, Karate Kid plotting, but with weed and wang. Something vibey. Something that really embraces and engages with a heretofore unseen world in cinema*. Not Goodtime-Charlie-lovin'-life-and-ladies-but-can-he-win-over-that-one-special-girl. That's some tired shit.

I'd love to be pleasantly surprised though.

* I couldn't think of any male stripper movies. Are there any notable ones?

Stefen

I was under the impression it was supposed to be hard?  Measuring by what I just saw, it looks soft.  Maybe it's just cut weird?

It only lasted 2 and a half minutes. Maybe after seeing the whole thing I'll be more satisfied.  :oops:
Falling in love is the greatest joy in life. Followed closely by sneaking into a gated community late at night and firing a gun into the air.

Pubrick

This is how stupid his last two movies looked. You guys are just catching up.

He's obviously trying to lose credibility and therefore the burden of expectations from the last remaining film geeks clinging to the promise he once held. Just like David Gordon Green, he just wants to live a nice easy stress free life.

Sodonebergh's earned it.
under the paving stones.

BB

I don't know. I thought the last two were both alright. Haywire in particular was actually a reasonably solid, entertaining B-picture (in no small part due to Lem Dobbs, who is probably among the best screenwriters to have never been successfully translated to the screen). Now, neither of them were amazing, but I don't know if Soderbergh has ever directed an AMAZING movie. They tend to fall somewhere between pretty good and good, with the occasional interesting failure (Full Frontal is an exception, being a genuinely bad movie. I haven't seen Underneath or King of the Hill).

Looking over the films he's made, I'm not so certain credibility or expectations were ever much of a concern for Soderbergh. If anything, he's sought to actively subvert expectations and (public and industry) credibility. His sophomore film was Kafka. When the industry and audience looked for him to make good on the promise of Sex, Lies, and Videotape. I mean, Kafka is fucked up mess, but an ambitious one and certainly a film nobody thought he would make at that time.

When everybody thought he was all washed-up in the mid-90s he makes Out of Sight. Then The Limey, Erin Brokovich, and Traffic, establishing himself as more than just a fringe weirdo, winning the Oscar while maintaining some of that indie cred. Then he makes Ocean's Eleven, shattering that cred. Then he makes Solaris, gaining it back and confounding mainstream audiences. Since then, it's been a real grab-bag. Anything goes. Like, fuck it, I can make this in three months, let's do it.

I see David Gordon Green differently, as he was well on his way to developing a very clear, distinct authorial voice in his work. Then said, fuck it, money, money, money. Or maybe he genuinely wanted to start over, and God bless him. Soderbergh never had much of an authorial voice. He's a journeyman filmmaker, but because he's better than most other journeymen of our time (and because journeyman is a bit of a dirty word), we mistake him for an auteur.

My expectations for Magic Mike weren't much based on Soderbergh's reputation. Rather, I wrongly assumed the film would be handled differently based on the subject matter and its inherent sleaziness. I mean, from what I can imagine, male strippers must find themselves in all kinds of interesting, uncommon situations. Yet, this looks to be an almost absurdly conventional film. Based on that trailer, I fear we might not even see a penis in this thing. I think we can all agree, there should be a penis in this thing.

polkablues

I'll still see it, but only because I'm curious what he has to do for twenties.
My house, my rules, my coffee

MacGuffin

More Dancing, More Stripping Trailer


"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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Robyn

Quote from: BB on April 21, 2012, 09:41:03 PM
I see David Gordon Green differently, as he was well on his way to developing a very clear, distinct authorial voice in his work. Then said, fuck it, money, money, money. Or maybe he genuinely wanted to start over, and God bless him.

Didn't he once say that he had a really expensive Sci-Fi project that he wanted to do but couldn't get the money for it? Maybe he thought "hey! I have to make a mainstream name for myself so I can get financing for it" and then sometime in the future BAM! 2001 of our time or something! 

BB

Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking the guy. Just sort of joshing him. In his shoes, I'd have almost definitely done the same thing. I would like to think I wouldn't have gone on to make Your Highness or The Sitter, but there's no shame in it. He's consistently working and good on him.

But I don't know that he's doing these films to make a name for himself in the mainstream. Perhaps at first with Pineapple Express. Since then, though, he's been as risky as ever, just with more money and on a bigger scale. Eastbound and Down was a risk that paid off. Your Highness was a risk that didn't. I haven't seen The Sitter, so I don't know what was going on there. His upcoming Suspiria remake strikes me as a new and different kind of risk. It's not like Suspiria holds much name recognition for popular audiences.

Also, it's not like his choice of mainstream material would likely inspire financiers to fund a personal project (not that there's any proven way to do so). Did you like my anonymous, bland, hands-off direction in Pineapple Express? Perhaps you'd be interested in providing me with a hundred million dollars so I can make my sci-fi passion project! I mean, I don't know a whole lot about how movies acquire financing, but it seems like the only people who get to consistently make personal films are those who largely stick to making personal films. Of course there's a one-for-them, one-for-me approach favoured by guys like Scorcese and Cuaron, but Scorcese's most mainstream movies are still loaded with personal preoccupations, and The Sitter ain't Harry Potter, if you know what I mean.

DGG was critically-acclaimed, had industry allies, and was on his way to a pretty great career as an auteur filmmaker. He then decided to do something other than that. I don't believe these have been passionless studio jobs. I think he sincerely enjoys making the films he's been making. That said, I hope Megan Ellison or some overseas investor gives him the money to make that sci-fi project, and I hope it is the 2001 of our time. Even if it's the 2010 of our time, I hope he gets to make it. I like the guy, even if he sometimes makes shitty stuff.

Anyhow, Magic Mike still looks awful, eh?


MacGuffin

Nicolas Winding Refn Was Originally In Talks To Direct 'Magic Mike'; Steven Soderbergh Has No Desire To Make Another "Important Movie"
Source: Playlist

Well, you gotta admit, Channing Tatum has got some serious taste when it comes to directors. With his CV so far including folks like Michael Mann, Kevin Macdonald, Ron Howard, Kimberley Peirce and now, of course, Steven Soderbergh (x3), there's another helmer that, had things gone differently, Tatum would've already knocked out a couple movies with. His name? Nicolas Winding Refn. After "Bronson" in 2008, Refn was lining up the thriller "The Dying Of The Light," which would've starred Harrison Ford and Tatum in a Paul Schrader-penned film about a CIA agent who becomes afflicted by blindness. The project fell apart, but it seems Tatum and Refn were talking about reuniting on something entirely different.

In a feature article in the Miami Herald about the making of "Magic Mike," it's revealed that before Soderbergh came along "Tatum had originally been in talks with Nicolas Winding Refn to direct 'Magic Mike.' " We can only imagine what that would've been like, but after that deal fell apart, Soderbergh was the next one on the phone, and he has nothing but strong praise for Tatum. "I had a great experience with him on 'Haywire,' and he immediately became one of those actors in my repertory who I can call upon to do stuff. I became a fan," the director said. "He's interested in a lot of different things, and he's well aware of the difference between taking yourself seriously and taking your work seriously. I like his attitude, and I think he's really got it together."

And those kind words are easily reciprocated. "Steven is one of the two or three directors who made me want to make films," "Magic Mike" screenwriter and Tatum's business partner Reid Carolin said. "I was awestruck at getting the chance to work with him. And he's truly a mentor. There's a culture of respect. He doesn't care who you are; he values your ideas, listens to them, gives you the feedback that you need, and you construct the story along with him. I think that's why his movies are so distinct: He's in every frame and every line of dialogue."

In an interesting related tidbit, Soderbergh also chatted with the Miami Herald about the change in direction he took after his polarizing epic "Che," which he feels "broke out so obviously along ideological lines and nothing else was discussed...I just thought there would be a more wide-ranging discussion," he says. He adds: "After 'Che,' I have no desire to make another quote-unquote important movie. I've been cured of that."

Following that experience, Soderbergh admits he was looking at fare that didn't carry with the weight of being an awards contender. "After that, I've been consciously looking for things that would be more fun to do. With 'Contagion,' I was trying to push into a genre category as far as I could. Even though it came out in the fall, I didn't want it to feel like important Oscar-bait. I wanted to make something really entertaining. As far as the smaller scale goes, that hasn't necessarily been by choice. I was fired off 'Moneyball' and then got sort of shoved off 'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.' Those movies were on a larger scale," he explains. " 'Contagion' was $60 million. When I was on it, 'Moneyball' was $50 million. When you get into those kinds of numbers, the amount of time you spend doing the things you like to do decreases. I like being in a room with actors. But when the scale of a film grows, you are forced to wrangle with a bunch of other elements. And that's not fun for me."

But with "Magic Mike" on its way to theaters, the smaller-scale thriller "The Bitter Pill" in the can (with Tatum again) and "Behind The Candelabra" gearing up to shoot this summer, more than ever Soderbergh is going wherever his interests take him. And with a hiatus on the horizon, who knows where he'll go next.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


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