'Reid [Carolin] and I aren't idiots! We're not going to direct our first movie as a sequel to a Steven Soderbergh movie,' Channing explains what he will do before helming the male stripper film.
- Sep 18, 2012
AceShowbiz - Recently there have been swirling reports that Channing Tatum might make his directorial debut with "Magic Mike" sequel. Weighing in on the rumor, Channing said that he and producer Reid Carolin had talked about the possibility but stressed that they would start with a small movie first before taking over Steven Soderbergh's place in "Magic Mike 2".
"Reid and I aren't idiots! We're not going to direct our first movie as a sequel to a Steven Soderbergh movie. That's not smart," so the husband of Jenna Dewan told Vulture. "I want to start with something very small ... make a lot of mistakes, make them real early, and then go jump in [on Magic Mike 2]."
Channing further explained his plan to direct the male stripper movie. "We've thought about directing Magic Mike 2, and we're still thinking about it, and we want to do that," he admitted. "We want to do the sequel. It's too good of a movie, and the characters are so crazy, that we want to go for it. We feel like we did the little indie version this last time, and for the next one, we want to up the stakes a little, maybe go even farther."
The "21 Jump Street" actor said that he would study from actor-turned-director Ben Affleck and would absorb the knowledge from Oscar winner Soderbergh, who directed the first movie. "It's weird to think about the movie without Soderbergh, but he's gone. He's definitely retired. He's like in Hawaii right now," he added.
"I could look at how he uses the camera, how he sets up shots, how he makes his decisions, but at the end of the day, it's really how he sees the world, and we'll never be able to copy Soderbergh. No one can. Even if you tried to copy him, you can't, because it's always going to be a reflection of yourself. It's like love. If you understand love, if you're in love, you'll put your version of love into the movie."
Made with a budget of merely $7 million, "Magic Mike" successfully collects $154.4 million worldwide. In addition to Tatum, the R-rated dramedy stars Alex Pettyfer, Cody Horn, Olivia Munn, Matthew McConaughey, Matthew Bomer and Riley Keough.
