10 Amazing Films From Directors Who Stopped Giving A Damn

3. Magic Mike - Steven Soderbergh

While Steven Soderbergh was one of the early pioneers of the new American indie cinema of the 1990s, it was the 2000s that really saw him rise to prominence with his Best Director Oscar win for Traffic, and the mainstream success of the Ocean's trilogy.

The director had always tiptoed between populist entertainment and more high brow material, always with a heavily intellectual edge and, it's fair to say, a very masculine energy. As such, few could have predicted that in 2011 he would make a movie that would send female audiences into a frenzy.

Magic Mike cast Channing Tatum as an ambitious male stripper. The film was largely based on Tatum's own real life experiences in that profession, which he had discussed with Soderbergh on the set of earlier film Haywire.

Shot for only $7 million, Magic Mike made its money back many times over as thirsty cinemagoers came flocking in. And yet, while the film absolutely gives them their money's worth with all the man-meat on display, it's still very much a Steven Soderbergh film, meaning the characters and the dialogue are treated every bit as seriously as they would otherwise.

It may have put off some Soderbergh fans at the time, but Magic Mike proved to be a key film both in establishing Channing Tatum as a genuine talent, as well as having a role to play in the career resurgence of supporting actor Matthew McConaughey.