Steven Soderbergh and Channing Tatum’s Magic Mike’s Last Dance has added Salma Hayek (The Eternals) to replace Thandiwe Newton (Westworld) after the latter exited the role due to personal issues.
The exact nature of Newton’s departure hasn’t been given, but Warner Bros. issued a statement which said “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.”
According to tabloid reports, Newton got into an “unimaginably vicious” argument with Channing Tatum regarding the Will Smith / Chris Rock Oscars controversy, which left her involvement in the sequel “untenable”.
Details on Hayek’s character have not been given, but it is said she will be the female lead of the third Magic Mike film. It is currently in production in London.
Steven Soderbergh is returning to direct the feature after having skipped the 2015 instalment, Magic Mike XXL. Reid Carolin, who was behind the screenplays for the first two Magic Mike films, is back as the writer for the project, which is being made exclusively for HBO Max.
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