Steven Soderbergh On Thandiwe Newton’s Departure From ‘Magic Mike’s Last Dance’ And Why Movies ‘Don’t Matter’ As They Once Did

Steven Soderbergh discusses the “chicken-or-egg” situation theater exhibitors face with Marvel’s dominance and addresses press reports surrounding Thandiwe Newton’s magical mike leave in a new interview.

Recently talked to Rolling stone in an extensive interview about Magic Mike’s Last Dancewhich included an in-depth discussion of what Soderbergh thinks of the film and Hollywood’s depictions of sex, sexuality and consent, the director also addresses the impact of Salma Hayek Pinault’s replacement of Thandiwe Newton, noting that “everything I saw in public was wrong” when it came to the reports of what was behind the latter actress’s departure.

“Nothing I’ve ever seen was right, and there’s really no benefit to anyone involved in the litigation or excavation, because I consider it private,” the director said of Newton’s departure. “I don’t think anyone sees any benefit in going through this publicly. It becomes something you have no control over. Right now, keeping it private means we can all control it, and I think it should stay there for now.

With Newton’s departure, Hayek Pinault stepped in and helped the team adjust to its more female-oriented stance. Soderbergh specifically explains how the film’s intricate and intense open sequence came together, noting that she stressed at one point that her character had to “take over” at some point and “steer” her interaction with star Channing Tatum’s.

The arrival of Hayek Pinault also changed the dynamics of the mother-daughter relationship in the film, which was originally cast with Newton in mind. After Newton’s departure, the film kept the same actress who played her daughter, changing the duo from a biological to an adopted relationship.

“I think it played with the dynamic she has with her daughter and resulted in one of my favorite lines in the whole movie – when she says ‘Mom.’ Now I look at it and go, that’s how it should always have been,” he wrote. “We had to recalibrate. There’s no question about it. We’ve all spent hours and hours in rooms rebuilding it, reimagining it to make it At some point you have to surrender to what the cinema gods want for you.”

At another point in the interview, Soderbergh explains why his list of what he’s seen and read in 2022 doesn’t include superhero titles. The director emphasizes that he “has no philosophical problem with those films” and is “agnostic about them”. But as someone who didn’t grow up with comic books or isn’t into fantasy, he’s not their audience and never has been. Although they are not of particular importance, he does express that he understands what it takes to make them.

“I can tell you now, as a filmmaker, they are really difficult films to make in terms of the stamina required,” he told the magazine. That shit is hard. I couldn’t.”

As for their impact on the state of theatrical releases, the magical mike director doesn’t blame superhero movies for the dwindling box office success of adult films. Nor does he believe Exhibitors are the villains, even though Marvel sequels are participating in screenings in theaters across the country.

“The issue of what happens to the public is really a chicken and egg issue. The reason they push other movies off the screen — mid-range adult dramas — is because people spend more money to see those movies than mid-range adult dramas,” he said. “The exhibitors are just trying to survive, which is getting harder and harder for them, so it’s this strange mix of both economic and cultural forces that got us here.”

He adds that even as he laments whether the state of theatrical is now “stuck here,” someone somewhere is making a movie “that will come out in six months or a year and that’s going down the trajectory that we think we thinking will reverse. have been, and things will begin to move in a different direction.

“I always believe in the ability of filmmakers to change the direction of the industry,” he adds. “I believe in the ability of artists to figure things out.”

Soderbergh, who produced the 2021 Oscars, took into account another big trend — the state of award shows — noting that this year’s nominee class leaves little room for people to complain that the Academy “hasn’t nominated popular movies! ”

“So we’ll find out if that’s really the problem or if it’s a deeper philosophical problem, which is the fact that movies don’t occupy the same cultural space they used to,” he added. “Culturally, they don’t matter as much as they did 20 years ago. As a result, especially for younger viewers, it’s not as compelling as it once was. They will learn a lot this year. We all will.’