Huffington Magazine Issue 42 | Page 71

GLEN WILSON/ ©2012 WARNER BROS. ENTERTAINMENT INC.

Exit

still talking about Tatum in 30
years, it’s Magic Mike that will
be remembered; it’s his Saturday
Night Fever, his Risky Business.
(This is to say nothing of what
Soderbergh did for Magic Mike
co-star Matthew McConaughey.)
If there’s a formula, then, for
becoming a movie star in the last
15 years, at least one portion of
it is tied almost symbiotically to
Soderbergh. (Depp and Downey,
for instance, became stars by
playing popular characters; Hanks
and Cruise were leftovers from the
late 1980s; Smith is his own cottage industry altogether.) Which

BEHIND
THE SCENES

is a great tidbit for future leading men hoping to join the A-list,
save for one little problem: Steven
Soderbergh is now retired. The
guy who has been one of the most
influential star-makers of the last
quarter century is not making any
more movies. (At least for now.)
So, who will find the next great
leading men? Certainly not Peter Berg or Andrew Stanton, the
directors, respectively, of Battleship and John Carter. Certainly
not whoever directed The Vow.
Certainly not the next superhero
franchise. (Sorry, Chris Pratt.)
Still, Harris is right: Movie
stars aren’t dead. Without Soderbergh, however, they just
might be harder to find.

HUFFINGTON
03.31.13

Soderbergh
on the set
of 2012’s
Magic Mike.