Magic Mike's Last Dance: Mike will finally get an intimate relationship in The HBO Max sequel

During  Magic Mike's Last Dance review  of Steven Soderbergh and Zoe Kravitz about their film KIMI the director spoke about the highly anticipated third installment of the Magic Mike story, which is titled Magic Mike's Last Dance. Soderbergh was also adamant about his desire to inspire Channing Tatum to continue the story. It is, in part, inspired by Tatum's past as a stripper in Tampa, Florida.

Soderbergh was the director of Magic Mike, which was released in 2012. Magic Mike was a massive popular with critics and viewers, who not only praised the sex appeal and dance sequences, but also the script, direction and the performances. Tatum starred alongside Alex Pettyfer, Matt Bomer, Joe Manganiello, and Matthew McConaughey. Bomer and Manganiello would also return alongside Tatum in the 2015 sequel Magic Mike XXL, this time directed by Gregory Jacobs, who was the first assistant director on the first film. The sequel was also a financial and critical success.

In the days when Magic Mike was still just one idea among many concepts, Soderbergh remembers pointing to Magic Mike as the one project Tatum should concentrate on. He explained that when Tatum presented the concept in the setting of Haywire and it instantly caught his attention. When  Magic Mike's Last Dance movie  was complete, Soderbergh was eager to be involved in making the project become a possibility.

With a third movie in the works, which was announced in November named Magic Mike's Last Dance, Soderbergh gave us a little hint of what's to come in the final. He stated that, while he was aware that the Magic Mike concept would be a success, he didn't realize that Tatum was looking to expand the scope of the film to a wider world, one that deals with the subject of relationships, masculinity and respect. This was expanded in the second film.

"The third film is sort of the apex of everything we've been talking about in this particular area. It's not just about taking the dance to another stage, but also engaging in the relationship aspect that's been the main focus of all of the films. Mike is in a relationship in the middle of the movie, while the rest happens. This isn't the first time that we've done this."

While Last Dance could very well be Mike Lane's final dance Soderbergh's return in the franchise is an exciting development. After the XXL sequel we've made it to the top of the mountain, but it seems there's still more to learn about Mike's life story.