It may be months yet until “Magic Mike XXL” hits theaters on July 3 of next summer, but we’re already excited to see some dudes get their bromance and their dance moves on once again in the Channing Tatum-led sequel. For the cinema of it all, you know? Oh, and the abs too. Abs-olutely.

When MTV News caught up with him ahead of the opening of his latest movie, the animated “The Book of Life,” Tatum confirmed that he and his crew were hard at work filming the sequel to the summer stripping hit, and that by being in control of the script (Tatum wrote “Magic Mike XXL”), he got to change things up. Namely: it needed more bromance.

“I’m getting to right the one regret that I had with the first one, that we didn’t get to spend enough time with the guys,” he said. “I’m just excited. When I say this is the Super Bowl of the first movie, this is the mutant brother of the first movie.”

For those worried that the second installment in the series won’t be quite as revealing as the first, don’t fret: there’s no chance of this being a kid-friendly pic.

“Oh, yeah, yeah, it’s R,” Tatum laughingly confirmed. “There’s no shot of this being PG-13.”

“Magic Mike XXL” will hit theaters July 3, 2015.

Kase Wickman @worstkase

Great news, freeloaders: you no longer need to rely on the kindness of your ex-college roommate’s friend’s dad’s cable password to get your “Game of Thrones” on! HBO will next year begin to offer a standalone online streaming service of its content, the company announced at a Time Warner investor’s meeting Wednesday (October 15).

HBO chairman and CEO Richard Plepler announced that even those without a cable subscription would be able to access HBO content, a service currently only available to those with a cable company login through the HBO Go app. The number of U.S. homes with internet is much greater than those with cable, let alone premium add-on channels such as HBO.

“That is a large and growing opportunity that should no longer be left untapped,” Plepler said. “It is time to remove all barriers to those who want HBO. So, in 2015, we will launch a stand-alone, over-the-top, HBO service in the United States. We will work with our current partners. And, we will explore models with new partners. All in, there are 80 million homes that do not have HBO and we will use all means at our disposal to go after them.”

What’s still left to figure out is the distribution of this Netflix competitor, according to EW. It remains to be seen whether HBO will choose to offer the service as a separate component from their TV channel for existing cable subscribers, partner with another company or make the service totally standalone, like Netflix.

One ...

With reporting by Josh Horowitz

The rumors of Channing Tatum playing mutant Gambit in an “X-Men” movie look more and more like they’ll be coming to fruition on a big screen near you sometime in the not-so-distant future. And the actor won’t just be playing the card-slinging, sweet-talking character, he’ll be delivering what sounds like a unique origin story.

MTV News caught up with Tatum ahead of the release of the animated “Book of Life,” and couldn’t help but get an update on his mutant passion project.

Tatum said he was talking with producers about what the story would be and looking for the right writer for the script.

“I don’t want to give too much away because we don’t know that much right now other than who Gambit is,” he said. “We really do want to try our hardest to give something fresh. We’re obviously going to go to the saving the world superhero movies eventually, but not for the first one.”

Find out more about Tatum’s plans for Gambit in the clip above.

Related: Channing Tatum Threw Cards At Our Face At Comic-Con, Because ‘X-Men’

“The Book of Life” hits theaters October 17.

Kase Wickman @worstkase

Art by Kurt Woerpel

We’re always hearing about how the past was a simpler time. We’ve heard it so much, in fact, we think it probably holds true for mutants as well.

So to celebrate today’s DVD release of the time-hopping movie “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” we gave some of our favorite mutants’ powers the minimalist treatment. Can you match the power to the mutant?

Kase Wickman @worstkase

It’s been sitting on the shelf for more than a year, but Jennifer Lawrence’s big-screen reunion with Bradley Cooper, “Serena,” finally had its premiere in the U.K. at the London Film Festival.

Lawrence plays the titular Serena, a young woman with a mysterious past in Depression-era North Carolina. She meets George Pemberton (Cooper), and it’s love — or at least marriage — at nearly-first sight.

Though the fact that the film is just now seeing the light of day, about two years after shooting wrapped, as well as the murmurs that U.S. release will be in February via the good old internet — red flags both — critics in the first reviews trickling out seem to feel OK about “Serena.” One might even say Lawrence kills — her character does, at least, literally.

Here’s what the critics are saying about the first look at “Serena.”

It’s Gorgeous
“Filmed in the picturesque forests of the Czech Republic, Serena is a handsomely mounted yarn with high production values. The lovely period costumes, muted autumnal colors and mostly hand-held camerawork by Morton Soborg are all pleasing touches. Likewise the starry cast, which includes Romanians, Czechs and well-known Brits like Toby Jones shamelessly hamming up their stagey Deep South accents.” – Stephen Dalton, Hollywood Reporter

No Performance Anxiety
“Given the ever-present backdrop of the lumber industry, headline writers the world over will be disappointed to hear that none of the film’s central performances could reasonably be described as wooden. Lawrence is as reliably engaged as ever, ...

Emma Stone doesn’t have to sing or dance in the upcoming “Birdman,” but her role as the recently rehabbed daughter of Michael Keaton’s Riggan Thomson, a former action star who’s turned his sights to the stage, prepared her for her upcoming stint in Broadway’s “Cabaret.”

“It was hard,” Stone said of filming “Birdman,” which is one very long tracking shot for most of the film. “It was definitely hard. It was like theater and film and stunts all at once. It had to be perfect every time.”

When she goes onstage for “Cabaret,” however, there’s one person who will stand out in the audience, as opposed to the scores of people who will flock to see “Birdman” on screens upon its release: Stone’s pal Taylor Swift.

Related: Taylor Swift’s Besties, Past And Present

What will flash across Stone’s mind when she spots Swift in the mezzanine?

“Sally’s not the most famous or the most talented musical star on the planet,” Stone said, so the pressure is somewhat lessened when performing for a multi-platinum artist like Swift.

Plus, the hard work of “Birdman” prepared Stone for the demanding eight-times-a-week performance schedule of Broadway.

“It does fuel the wanting to do something as scary as a musical eight times a week,” she said.

“Birdman” hits theaters October 17.

Kase Wickman @worstkase

This weekend marked the passing of another New York Comic-Con, where thousands of fans packed into the Javits Center to hear the latest news about “The Walking Dead,” “Big Hero 6,” “Tomorrowland” and more fan exclusives.

While the spotlight was on the panels of the weekend, we’d like to shine another on the tiniest stars of the con: attendees’ fingernails.

Thanks to the League of Lacquer booth on the convention floor, staffed by top-notch nail artists and offering mini-manis, NYCC attendees rocked the most delightfully geeky manicurers we’ve ever seen. Here are a few of our favorites.

Baymax is cute even as nail art.

Friendship is magic, and so is this manicure.

This Batman-themed mani isn’t Joker-ing around.

Mario’s Princess Peach gets the royal treatment with this nail art.

Tina!

Thor, God of Nail Thunder.

The real Springfield is in this mani.

Only an Animaniac would wear these nails.

This vampire mani doesn’t suck.

Betty and Archie get the lacquer treatment.

A truly super set of nails.

Related: 14 Eye-Poppingly Beautiful Cosplay Photos From New York Comic-Con

Kase Wickman @worstkase

See you later, Brooklyn. For her newest project, Lena Dunham will explore a world far from the five boroughs in both space and time.

The “Girls” creator, producer, writer and actress will next turn her attentions to an adaptation of Karen Cushman’s historical young adult novel, “Catherine, Called Birdy.”

At an event as part of the New Yorker Festival in New York City Friday night (October 10), Dunham was asked about her upcoming projects by New Yorker staff writer Ariel Levy.

“This is actually my first time talking about it publicly,” Dunham said. “I’m very excited about it. I’m not sure when it’ll happen, but I’m in the process of — I don’t know if anyone here has read a book for young girls, it’s ‘Catherine, Called Birdy.’ Has anyone here read that?”

Written in diary form, the book is the story of a young girl — a “sharp-tongued, high-spirited, clever young maiden with a mind of her own,” according to the publisher’s synopsis — trying to scare off potential husbands that her father deems suitable. And by “suitable,” we mean rich.

In her own words, Dunham described Cushman’s book as “really beautiful,” with a plot about “a girl in 1290 who gets her period and her father basically says, ‘Well, it’s time for you to get married,’ and she’s like ‘Uh, no.’ But it’s hyper realistic and really pretty and it’s full of incest and beatings but it’s a child’s story. I’ve been obsessed with ...