Abs-olute moves
STRIPPER FRANCHISE: Tatum, his buff buddies back for one last stand
LOS ANGELES — As a kid, Channing Tatum fantasized about playing superhero Gambit (which he will in an upcoming movie). But he never dreamt he’d be headlining a male stripper film franchise.
Take a bow Magic Mike XXL, a follow up to Magic Mike (2012), which surprised even Tatum when it scored more than $167 million US at the worldwide box office.
In fact, the second film in the series is tracking so well, there have been early discussions about a third.
In the latest adventure, Tatum and his band of male entertainers gather to discuss the moving-and-shaking business of playing not-so-tiny dancers for hire.
“We had a big CGI budget,” Tatum said, explaining the return of the even more ripped bodies on display, including his.
Again loosely based on Tatum’s experiences as an 18-year-old Tampa stripper, the new movie features the same crew that reunites to attend one last blowout at a Myrtle Beach male strippers’ convention.
Beside Magic Mike, back are Ken (Matt Bomer), Big Dick Richie (Joe Manganiello), Tarzan (Kevin Nash), Tito (Adam Rodriguez) and sidekick Tobias (Gabriel Iglesias).
New to the mix are Jada Pinkett Smith, Amber Heard, Elizabeth Banks and Andie MacDowell, who add to the fun — in contrast to Magic Mike’s more serious tone.
In fact, the multiple dance routines tend to be more complicated compared to the sequel’s fairly straightforward plot, which was the intention.
“It was a little bit of an oversight on the last one that we couldn’t fit all the dance routines … so we kind of designed how we were dancing better so we could show them all,” Tatum said.
“The first (movie) was kind of tethered to reality and this real world of male strippers isn’t all that interesting.”
Certainly, Tatum rocks it the way he wanted to. And former New York Giants lineman Michael Strahan has an unforgettable cameo as a dancer.
“I can’t get Michael Strahan out of my head,” Bomer said. “Him with a tight pair of gold shorts; a 6-foot-5 Hall of Fame football player jumping over a woman on the table.”
Flashy cameos aside, the returning co-stars had more to say about their roles and their performances. Collaboration was what they do best as the main actors became close friends.
“You get a group of people in a room and let them play and get to know each other, and sometimes magic comes out of that,” Bomer said.
Added Tatum: “I haven’t been on a movie where people would show up on their days off to watch and support their friends. That doesn’t happen on a lot of movies, but it did here.”
The shooting schedule was tight, too, so it helped that there was a camaraderie among cast and crew.
“One of the fun things about doing a road trip movie is every day was a new adventure,” said Bomer, who also sings in the film. “We never stayed in one place for too long.”
They did have almost a week to film the climax with the female extras as audience members, most of them from the North Carolina area. As it turned out, they were loud, but a little more in control than the folks from the first film cheering on the strippers.