14 DAY TRIAL // In February this year, Channing Tatum announced that he was already busily working on the script for “Magic Mike 2” but didn’t offer an estimated timeframe for the production. Joe Manganiello is now saying that the script is done and shooting starts this fall.
If there’s enough pressure to complete the production ASAP, which I imagine there is, considering the resounding success of the original, chances are good the sequel could come out in theaters as early as 2015.
“Yeah, it's gonna happen this fall. I think they're going to announce it soon. It's crazy. I didn't think that would be my first franchise. I never thought that would ever be the direction of my career,” Joe says in an interview with Collider.
He also boasts about how shooting the first film was “the most fun [he] ever had” and gushes about how happy he is to get back with “those guys” again. By that last part he means Tatum and perhaps some of the stars from the original, which included Matthew McConaughey, Alex Pettyfer and Matt Bomer.
Word has it that, now that he has an Oscar, McConaughey thinks he’s too good to do a movie about exotic male dancers and will only agree to a cameo if the money is right. It’s probably safe to say that Joe is far from that, so he’s eager to return.
“Magic Mike” was initially planned as a standalone film. Directed by Steven Soderbergh on a script by Tatum himself (based on his pre-fame experience), it was made on a meager $7 million (€5.09 million) budget but went on to gross $167 million (€121.4 million) worldwide.