Magic Mike
Short description
Magic Mike follows Mike Lane, a man in his thirties who juggles several jobs by day, including roofing and furniture work, while earning his real money at night as a stripper at the Xquisite club. The club's owner, Dallas, a former dancer himself, has built the place into a thriving business, and Mike is his main attraction. Mike's plan is to save enough to start his own company, but his ambitions keep getting postponed. When he meets Adam, a nineteen-year-old drifting through life and living with his sister Brooke, Mike takes him under his wing and introduces him to the club's world of easy money, parties and casual encounters. Adam takes to it quickly, though Brooke disapproves of what her brother is doing, and Mike's feelings for her complicate things, especially as the lifestyle he teaches Adam has a less glamorous side.
Steven Soderbergh directed the film from a screenplay by Reid Carolin. It was Soderbergh's twenty-first film as director in chronological order, arriving between Haywire and Behind the Candelabra. Channing Tatum, who also produced, stars as Mike, with Matthew McConaughey as Dallas, Alex Pettyfer as Adam, Cody H. Carolin as Brooke, Olivia Munn as Joanna and Joe Manganiello as Big Dick Richie. The production was modestly budgeted at seven million dollars and went on to earn about 167 million worldwide, a strong return. Audience scores sit in the middle range, at 6.1 on IMDb from roughly 152,000 votes and 6.2 on TMDB from far fewer votes, while critics' reviews average 7 out of 10.
What's left behind the scenes
- The film is partly based on Channing Tatum's experience as a male exotic dancer, which he was before becoming a movie star.
- Matthew McConaughey liked the idea of the film so much that he agreed to star in it with almost no hesitation.
- During Dallas's solo performance, he unbuckled a side strap, and in the next shot, the strap was back in place.
- Channing Tatum wanted Nicolas Winding Refn to direct the film, but Refn had to decline due to scheduling conflicts with the filming of "Only God Forgives" (2012).
- During the song "It's Raining Men", Ken pulls down his suspenders twice in consecutive frames.
- The actors in the film danced and undressed themselves. No stunt doubles were used.
- The role in the film was offered to Cuban actor William Levy, but he turned it down.
- In the first scene featuring Adam, played by Alex Pettyfer, his undressing movements were not choreographed to emphasize the inexperience of his character. The actor didn't even know what music he would be undressing to until filming began. It turned out to be Madonna’s “Like a Virgin” performed by Chris Mitchell from Nashville.
- In preparation for filming, the actors playing strippers visited local strip clubs to better immerse themselves in the atmosphere.
- The character of Tarzan, played by Kevin Nash, wears a knee brace during his daily activities and lives with the belief that stripping is all he knows. This was not in the script, but appeared after Nash arrived on set with a brace on his leg and explained that he would not be able to do his job properly without it. Kevin Nash is a professional wrestler who has had numerous knee problems.
- Daytime scenes in Tampa and Miami are intentionally shown in a yellow color palette to emphasize the exotic nature of Florida, and to contrast with the scenes in strip clubs with neon lighting.
- Between takes, Joe Manganiello and Channing Tatum worked out with weights in the parking lot to stay in shape.
- Stand-up comedian Gabriel Iglesias came to the audition and only found out on the spot that the role of Tobias had been written specifically for him, and that the audition was, accordingly, a mere formality. According to Iglesias himself, Channing Tatum invited him to the audition in a phone call.
- In the dance scene, when Matthew McConaughey's character finally undresses, it shows him moving away from women grabbing at his crotch. The fact is that the extras got too carried away and accidentally pulled the actor's thong down. McConaughey didn't even interrupt the dance at that moment.
- For the dance scene with umbrellas, costume designer Christopher Peterson instructed that 'glitter' be applied to the capes and umbrellas to give them the appearance of being wet from the rain, as using water itself could have been dangerous.
- Knowing how well Channing Tatum dances, choreographer Alison Faulk allowed him to improvise in Mike's final dance.
- The film shows Matthew McConaughey's character playing the bongos. The actor was once arrested for marijuana possession after a police officer looked into his window and saw him dancing naked in the room and playing the bongos.
- The film's budget was $6.5 million. The entire amount was provided by Channing Tatum and Steven Soderbergh.
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