Ladies and gentlemen, Magic Mike XXL is on the way. Director Steven Soderbergh’s “male stripper movie” Magic Mike was one of the bigger surprises of 2012 in more ways than one. Not only did the $7 million pic become a box office smash to the tune of $167 million worldwide, but Soderbergh dug deep into his subject matter, crafting a seriously dramatic story about the American Dream against the backdrop of the male stripper world. Tatum has been hard at work on the Magic Mike sequel for the past year, and today Soderbergh revealed that second unit filming has already begun via a Magic Mike XXL image on Twitter. Though Soderbergh is in retirement from film directing, he’s acting as the cinematographer, camera operator, and editor on Magic Mike XXL while Gregory Jacobs takes over the director’s chair. It appears that he’s getting a jump on things before principal photography begins in earnest, with a little second unit photography work in Myrtle Beach.
Take a look at the teaser Magic Mike XXL image after the jump, courtesy of Soderbergh. Full cast has yet to be confirmed, but Tatum is back in the lead role and the film is slated to hit theaters on July 1, 2015.
As you can see from the Magic Mike XXL image, filming has begun on the picture's second unit with “Peter Andrews” as the camera operator. That is, of course, the pseudonym of Soderbergh, and it’s nice to see him back for the sequel in some capacity. I don’t think principal photography has begun just yet since Tatum is currently making the fall film festival rounds for his upcoming drama Foxcatcher (which could very well net him an Oscar nod), but I imagine main unit filming will be getting underway in the next month or so.
Again, the full cast has yet to be announced but Tatum previously said that “everyone” will likely return for the follow-up, which is described as a road movie of sorts. Take a look at Soderbergh’s Twitter image below, which reveals that his second unit shooting involves aerial shots of Myrtle Beach.
It's ON! pic.twitter.com/zczZdpqzdt
— Bitchuation (@Bitchuation) August 31, 2014
