Channing Tatum Is Looking for His Replacement as ‘The Real Magic Mike’ on HBO Max

If you loved Magic Mike and Magic Mike XXL, then will you love watching non-famous actors transform magically into hot male strippers?

That’s what HBO Max is betting on, ordering an unscripted competition series from Channing Tatum and Steven Soderbergh that’s already casting a nationwide search for 10 men who could be, would be, should be The Real Magic Mike.

Will they measure up to Tatum? Or even Matthew McConaughey, Joe Manganiello, Adam Rodriguez, or Matt Bomer?

Better question: Why can’t we just go back in time and cast late greats Patrick Swayze and Chris Farley? Because I’m damn sure nothing in The Real Magic Mike will ever come close to topping Swayze or Farley and their performance in the “Chippendales Audition” sketch which aired on Saturday Night Live way back in 1990.

Back to life, back to reality…

Set to debut on HBO Max later this year, the logline reads: “From the producers behind the Magic Mike franchise and live shows comes an exhilarating and sexy series that will transform a group of men into real-life Magic Mikes. 10 men who have ‘lost their magic’ will come together in a competition series like no other. They will bare their souls and more as they evolve their bodies, learn to perform spectacular routines, and develop a new level of self-confidence. As they strip off their clothes, they will rid themselves of emotional baggage and regain their mojo but only one will be the Real Magic Mike. He will win a cash prize and an opportunity to perform on the blockbuster Magic Mike Live stage in Las Vegas.”

Joining Tatum and Soderbergh as EPs are Reid Carolin, Peter Kiernan, Gregory Jacobs, Nick Wechsler, Vincent Marini, Alycia Rossiter, Cassie Lambert Scalettar, Chris Culvenor, Paul Franklin, Wes Dening and David Tibballs, plus co-executive producer Kevin Boyer.