Channing Tatum is OUT cover boy

The upcoming male stripper film Magic Mike may have a heterosexual love story at its center, but gay males are being aggressively courted in the marketing of the film that stars Channing Tatum, Matthew McConaughey, Matt Bomer, Alex Pettyfer and Joe Manganiello.

McConaughey is featured in the latest issue of The Advocate while Tatum is on the cover of the June/July issue of OUT magazine.

‘With Joe Manganiello naked in a movie, I think even straight guys are going to be, ‘Shit, I need to see that. That man is a specimen,’’ Tatum tells OUT.

The film is being released in the middle of the crowded and ultra-competitive summer movie season when big-budget action flicks dominate at the box office and young males are the most sought after demographic.

‘It’s risky,’ concedes Tatum. ‘People say that women and the gay community will go see it — knock on wood — but I know straight guys won’t be like, ‘Yo, what’s up man — you wanna go see the stripping movie after the game tonight?’ I doubt they’ll have the balls to see it. What’s funny is that the girls don’t ask me questions about my stripping days, but straight guys want to know everything. It’s that fantasy element. It’s probably why a lot of females on Halloween are the whorey version of a ketchup bottle, or slutty nurse, which I love and respect — it’s liberating.’