The film follows the tale of the disadvantaged Tyler Gage (Channing Tatum) and the privileged modern dancer Nora Clark (Jenna Dewan), who find themselves paired up in a showcase that determines both of their futures. Realizing that they only have one chance, they finally work together.

A sequel to the film, titled Step Up 2 the Streets, was released on February 14, 2008.

Sequels

The sequel, Step Up 2 the Streets, was released February 14, 2008.It was produced by Gianni Oconnor at Elite pictures. It stars Briana Evigan, Robert Hoffman and Cassie and directed by Jon M. Chu. The sequel was a huge hit, ended up grossing $57 million, a little short of its predecessor. Tyler makes a small appearance near the beginning of the sequel, convincing Sarah to allow Andie to attend MSA.

One week after the release of Step Up 2, due to a $20+ million opening take, Disney announced productions plans for Step Up 3-D to be released in 2010. Jon M. Chu will reprise as director of the film.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack features music from Mario, Ciara, Drew Sidora, Kelis, Chris Brown, Yung Joc, Blaire Reinhard, and Chamillionaire. The lead singles from the soundtrack are Sean Paul & Keyshia Cole’s “Give It Up To Me” Remix and Ciara single, “Get Up” featuring Chamillionaire. It was released August 8. Other tracks include Kelis’ “80s Joint”, Anthony Hamilton’s “Dear Life”, Youngbloodz’s “Imma Shine” and Petey Pablo’s “Show Me That Money”. The title track is performed by newcomer Samantha Jade and produced by Wyclef Jean.

Box office and reaction

As of August 22, 2006, the film had an average score of 48 out of 100 on Metacritic, signifying “mixed or average reviews”; its highest score was 75 (from both Entertainment Weekly and the Boston Globe), and its lowest was a 25 from the San Francisco Chronicle.

Las Vegas Weekly’s Josh Bell gave Step Up one and a half stars, calling the dancing “bland” and saying that “Tatum and Dewan have no chemistry while dancing or making out (not to mention whenever they’re unfortunate enough to have to speak).”

However, despite many bad reviews from critics, Step Up earned a total of $21 million in its opening weekend, ranking second in the North American box office and exceeding the film’s budget of $12 million. As of October 19, 2006, the day it closed, it had earned $65,328,121 in the United States and Canada.

Worldwide, the movie grossed $114,191,952.

The DVD for Step Up was released on December 19, 2006.

Cast

• Channing Tatum as Tyler Gage
• Jenna Dewan as Nora Clark
• Mario as Miles Darby
• Drew Sidora as Lucy Avila
• Heavy D as Omar
• Damaine Radcliff as Mac Carter
• De’Shawn Washington III as Skinny Carter
• Josh Henderson as Brett Dolan
• Deirdre Lovejoy as Katherine Clark
• Alyson Stoner as Camille Gage
• Rachel Griffiths as Director Gordan