Thandiwe Newton steps down from a role in the Magic Mike’s Last Dance movie, and Salma Hayek will step in for the actor.
Warner Bros. is bringing back the Channing Tatum starer Magic Mike franchise as an HBO Max film. Tatum is reprising his role as male stripper Mike Lane, a character loosely based on Tatum’s own experiences as an 18-year-old stripper in Florida. He serves as a producer in this film.
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The third film in the series is titled Magic Mike’s Last Dance and sees the return of Steven Soderbergh in the director’s chair, after having stepped away for the 2015 sequel. Reid Carolin, who was behind the screenplays for the first two Magic Mike films, is returning to write. Plot details are not yet known for Last Dance, but the movie is expected to wrap up the Magic Mike story.
What Happened With Magic Mike?
Production had recently begun in London. Westworld and Crash star Thandiwe Newton was set to appear in Magic Mike’s Last Dance but now she exited the project after 11 days of filming.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Salma Hayek will take over Newton’s role in the new film, who departed to deal with personal matters.
“Thandiwe Newton has made the difficult decision to step away from the production of Warner Bros. Pictures’ Magic Mike’s Last Dance to deal with family matters,” a Warner Bros representative said in a statement.
But there is some conflicting news suggesting that Newton has been axed from the project. Newton has denied the reports claiming she was dropped from Magic Mike 3 after a bust-up with Channing Tatum— about the Oscars slap.
The WB spokesperson has also called the reports about the feud with Tatum, who not only stars in but produces the film, “completely inaccurate”.
According to a report from The Sun, a “vicious” row broke out on the film’s London set over the incident that saw Will Smith slap Chris Rock at the Oscars on 27 March. Witnesses said the row on set escalated to “astonishing” levels before leading man Channing drove off in a car.
A source claimed: “They fell out over the debacle at the Oscars. I was on set. I watched her and watched him. They were in and out of the house where we were filming having this confrontation. After the row, he just went, ‘I am not working with her anymore.’ Him being a producer, it’s his movie, so she’s off the movie.”
As per that report, it is the reason why executives have decided to postpone the work and re-cast Thandiwe’s role – wasting 11 days of filming in London.
But we don’t know the proper reason behind the recast if it’s because of a feud onset or due to a family matter of Newton’s as stated by the reps. Nevertheless, having Salma Hayek on board a Magic Mike film is still exciting.
Channing Tatum is having a comeback lately. Last year he had a small but funny role in Free Guy (2021). This year he had back-to-back hits with MGM’s Dog and Paramount Pictures’ family adventure, The Lost City which also starred Sandra Bullock and Daniel Radcliffe. Both films were praised by critics and audiences alike and did well at the box office.
Thandiwe Newton recently appeared in Amazon Prime’s original All the Old Knives film, released in April. Salma Hayek has lastly seen in House of Gucci and Eternals in 2021.
The first Magic Mike film grossed $167 million at the box office and was followed by the 2015 sequel, Magic Mike XXL. Both films’ combined global gross nearly reached $300 million. The franchise also spawned a lucrative stage show, Magic Mike Live, which has had runs in Las Vegas, London, Berlin, and Australia.
So it is apparent why WB wants to make another sequel. Magic Mike’s Last Dance will be premiering exclusively on HBO Max.
Are you excited about Channing Tatum’s Magic Mike’s Last Dance? What are your thoughts about Thandiwe Newton exiting the project? Are you excited about Salma Hayek joining the movie? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below or on our social media and be sure to come back to The Illuminerdi for more movie news!
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