Post-'XXL,' cast is ready to retire the wax

LOS ANGELES — A spirited game of "Would you rather" with the men of Magic Mike XXL (in theaters Wednesday) always ends the same way: No more wax, ever again.

"After the first (Magic Mike), I was like, 'I'm never (waxing) again,' " says Channing Tatum, the franchise's star and producer, late one morning at the London West Hollywood hotel, surrounded by his cast. Then, "this gentleman here" — he points to Matt Bomer across the table — "was like, 'You have the wrong lady! I got the lady!' "

Bomer laughs, because his go-to waxing professional proved no better; Tatum broke out in a rash post-hair removal, yet again. "I think we collectively decided, never again," says Bomer.

"Never again!" Tatum echoes firmly. "I told (wife Jenna Dewan Tatum), 'Look, you don't ever have to wax. It's fine. I'm good with it. If you do it, that's on you. I don't want you to think you're doing it for me.' "

Stripping is big money at the box office. Fans will likely turn out in droves for the racy sequel, says Rentrak senior box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian. Proven by the success of 2012's Magic Mike, plus ladies-night-out hits such as Sex and the City and Fifty Shades of Grey, "R-rated films that enable women to express their interest in overtly sensual material and sexuality in the communal setting of the movie theater have performed amazingly well," he says

In XXL, Magic Mike's crew (Tatum, Bomer, Joe Manganiello, Kevin Nash and Adam Rodriguez) meet up for one last road trip, on a quest to figure out what women really want. But Tatum and his production partner Reid Carolin, who wrote both scripts, know what audiences want: an extra-large increase in blush-worthy dance numbers (preferably sans clothes).

They delivered, ending the sequel at a raucous, oil-slicked stripper convention in Myrtle Beach, S.C. In one scene, Manganiello even breaks out into Backstreet Boys choreography while trying to impress a dowdy gas station attendant.

Manganiello turns to Tatum. "Do you know that two months ago I was in (Backstreet Boy) AJ McLean's kitchen re-enacting that scene for him? He was like, 'Whoa, bro — that's our choreography from the video!' I was over for dinner."

Tatum crosses his arms. "I'm so pissed off that, one, I haven't known that until now," he says. "And, two, that you didn't film that and send it to me. I feel very upset."

The guys laugh. Part of their collective charm, aside from bulging biceps and cheese-grating abs, is their genuine camaraderie, born from a spirit of collaboration. "The only tip I gave everyone on the first film is 'Don't forget about your legs,' " says Tatum. "Because a lot of people in the real world (just focus on the upper body) all the time. You rip off them pants and it's just skinny little sticks down there."

For XXL's epic finale, which teasingly rotates the spotlight between each stripper, Manganiello, Bomer, Nash and Rodriguez got to handpick their character's signature dances. "I just begged them, 'Please just work around my limitations. Can I do maybe a statue?' " jokes Nash.

Then there's Manganiello, who sets a scandalous Fifty Shades of Grey routine to Nine Inch Nails' Closer, and Bomer, who grabs a microphone and seduces by belting out a D'Angelo's Untitled (How Does It Feel).

Tatum discovered Bomer's vocal talents on the set of the first Magic Mike. "When we were doing the first film, we used to entertain the extras between takes," says Bomer. "And Channing would just shove a microphone in our face and be like, 'Do something!' "

"(Bomer's) D'Angelo is nothing compared to Blaze of Glory by Jon Bon Jovi at the karaoke bar in Tampa while we were filming part one," Manganiello scoffs. "He crushed Blaze of Glory."

Bomer raises an eyebrow. "Joe destroyed Prince's Kiss that night. Literally, girls threw panties on the stage." The room erupts into laughter.

Ripped as this crew is, few can match Tatum's dance skills — hence, the addition of So You Think You Can Dance all-star Stephen "tWitch" Boss, who joins Tatum in a verging-on-X-rated two-man finale.

Why share the spotlight? "I just didn't want to be by myself up on a stage doing another version of Pony," says Tatum. "And then it all sort of started making sense."

After audiences see XXL, they're likely to beg Tatum to perform this daring routine.

"If I ever get in shape again, absolutely," he says, laughing. "But I don't know that that's going to happen to that degree ever again."