Released in 2006, the first Step-Up movie completely changed how Dance movies were expected to be. With heaps of laughter, a splash of human drama, and a big load of excellently choreographed dances. Written by Duane Adler, Step Up is an American romantic dance movie franchise that currently has a total of 6 movies.
No matter if you’re a long-time fan of the franchise or a newbie looking forward to getting into the franchise, this is the blog for you!

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All 6 Step Up Movies According to Watch Order
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Step Up (2006)
Streaming On: Can be Rented from YouTube, Vudu, Amazon Video
Director: Anne Fletcher
Writer: Duane Adler
Stars: Channing Tatum, Jenna Dewan, Mario Dewar Barrett, Drew Sidora, Rachel Griffiths
Genre: Romance, Dance
Mac, Skinny Carter, and best friend Tyler Gage attend a party where they are faced off against their arch nemesis P.J. P.J. is involved in many small thefts around the city, Mac, Skinny, and Tyler also end up being involved in them. After the party, the three go to the Maryland School of Arts and trash the whole theater.
When a security guard finds them, Tyler helps the other two run away, taking all the blame for the incident for which he is punished with 200 hours of mandatory community service at the school. During his time at the school, he finds Noah Clark, a senior at the school, routine interesting, and even dances some of the same moves while breakdancing with his friends.
When Noah’s partner, Andrew, drops out due to a sprain, Tyler takes his place. Though the two have problems at the start, they find their groove and start growing close to each other. Practicing with Noah for hours, Tyler does his best to adapt to her style, and both of them end up sharing a kiss at a party. The next day, Tyler comes to the school to rehearse his dance but finds out Andrew is back and blames Noah for ‘using’ him.
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Step Up 2: The Streets (2008)
Streaming On: Can be Rented from YouTube, Vudu, Amazon Video, REDBOX
Director: Jon M. Chu
Writers: Tony Ann Johnson, Karen Barna
Stars: Briana Evigan, Robert Hoffman, Will Kemp, Cassie Ventura, Channing Tatum (Cameo)
Genre: Drama, Dance
With the recent death of her mother, Andie West moves in with her mother’s best friend. Though Andie was not doing good in school, she found passion in dancing with her crew, the 410. She rehearses her routine daily with her illegal street crew to keep them at the top of an illegal competition ‘the street’. Tyler (from the first movie) persuades Andie to audition for the same school he did, as he thought it would help her turn her life around, Andie auditions and gets in with the help of Blake who convinces the school director to let her in.
When the 410 learn about Andie enrolling into a dance school, they kick her out. When Chase learns about Andie’s situation, he gathers up a bunch of street dancers he knew to make a new crew with Andie, to compete with the 410 in The Streets. To announce their participation in The Streets, Chase pranks Tuck, the leader of the 410, by leaving a dead fish in the vent of Tuck’s house.
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Angry at the prank, Tuck warns Andie to go away from the competition and even beats Chase to make a statement. The next day, Chase comes to school badly bruised, only to find the theater has been trashed by the 410 in an act of revenge. Andie takes full responsibility for the damage caused and is expelled for it. That night Andie and the whole crew receive a text about The Street starting, and all of them decide to ditch their school event and go to it.
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Step Up 3D (2010)
Streaming On: Can be Rented from YouTube, Vudu, Amazon Video
Director: Jon M. Chu
Writers: Amy Andleson, Emily Meyer
Stars: Rick Malambri, Adam G. Sevani, Sharni Vinson, Alyson Stoner, Chad Smith, Stephen Boss
Genre: Drama, Dance
On the first day in college, Moose finds himself lost on campus and ends up in a dance battle. Interested in his capabilities, Luke the leader of the “House of Pirates” dance crew, takes Moose to “The Vault”, a place for dancers with no home. While there Moose meets Natalie, another amazing dancer. Julian, the leader of the “House of Samurai” dance crew, declares that he is going to buy out “The Vault” as the mortgage has been paid in the past five months.
Luke is running low on funds and the only way to maintain the Vault is to win the World Jam Championship which would pay out $100,000 dollars. Luke asks Moose and Natalie to join his crew to help him save “The Vault”. The House of Pirates wins the first round with Moose’s help and moves on to the next round. The next round’s timings clash with Moose’s engineering test, and he decides to give the test.
When Moose receives a text from Luke, Moose barely makes it in time, but this disrupts his relationship with his best friend, Camille. The group’s dancing video is leaked online, and Natalie is revealed to be behind it and is also revealed to be Julian’s sister.
When Luke receives the news of his Vault going up for sale, he gives up on his crew and abandons the competition. Disappointed in Luke, Moose cheers Luke up and helps him gather his crew back. Both houses clash in the finals of the championship and the Pirates win the battle.
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Step Up Revolution (2012)
Streaming On: HBO MAX, DIRECTV
Director: Scott Speer
Writer: Amanda Brody
Stars: Ryan Guzman, Kathryn McCormick, Misha Gabriel, Cleopatra Coleman, Stephen Boss, Tommy Dewey, Peter Gallagher
Genre: Romance, Dance
Sean, Eddy, and Jason are members of “The Mob,” a flash mob in Miami that has closed down Ocean Drive for a performance. The three return to their job as waiters at the bar, where Sean spots Emily and falls in love with her right away. He approaches her, and the two have a great time together. Later, the two walks to the beach and even engage in a dance-off, but when Emily spots one of her father’s associates, she suddenly stops and flees.
The following day, Emily is rehearsing her routine in the hotel’s Ballroom without even realizing Sean was there. After a little while, Emily warms up to Sean and lets him know that she’s applying to dance schools. The following day, Emily is invited to join the mob, and Sean introduces her to everyone. She even takes part in the following flash mob, which is incredibly successful. After a party, Sean and Emily become more intimate and even share a kiss.
Upon their return, they learn that Emily’s father intends to demolish the hotel they were staying in so that a strip can be built nearby. The property is owned by Sean’s uncle. Even though Emily only admits to her father being responsible for the hotel’s destruction to Sean, the rest of the team finds out the truth later and calls Emily’s double-dealing out to her father.
Due to Sean’s efforts to protect Eddy, a fight between Eddy and Emily is broken up as a result. After being bailed out by Ricky, Sean, and Eddy reconcile and perform one more performance—this time, it’s not to compete, but to make a request. Her dad agrees to let the building remain after seeing Emily smile during the last performance and even makes a commitment to assist the neighborhood.
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Step Up: All In (2014)
Streaming On: HBO MAX, DIRECTV, Cinemax
Director: Trish Sie
Writer: John Swetnam
Stars: Ryan Guzman, Briana Evigan, Stephen Boss, Misha Gabriel, Izabella Miko, Alyson Stoner, Adam Sevani
Genre: Romance, Dance
Sean and his dance group “The Mob” relocate to LA in an effort to support themselves financially from their passion, but they are turned down at every audition. The team decides to return to Miami after losing a dance-off to “The Grim Knights” in a nightclub.
When Sean decides to stay in Los Angeles for a bit, he learns of a dancing competition called “The Vortex” that offers the victors a three-year booking contract in Las Vegas. With the aid of Moose, Sean accepts a position as a janitor at a dance studio, begins looking for new teammates, including Andie West (from the second film), and names the crew LMNTRIX.
Sean learns that The Mob and even The Grim Knights are present once LMNTRIX enters the contest. Sean and Andie reveal their breakups with their respective partners to each other in a pub. After Moose’s fiancée departs for Los Angeles after witnessing him being kissed by another female at the event, Moose quits the competition to reconcile with her.
In an exhibition match against the Mob Sean tries to perform a special move with Andie that she had previously refused to do, which really upsets her and she leaves mid-performance. Despite this, LMNTRIX wins the match the mob decides to leave, and Sean apologizes for being a jerk and mends his relationship with Andie.
Later, the LMNTRIX team learns that the tournament is being rigged by the show’s host and the head of the Grim Knights. In the finals, LMNTRIX and The Mob collaborate to overcome this challenge and put on an incredible performance that forces the host to declare them the champions.
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Step Up: Year of the Dance (2019)
Streaming On: Can be Rented from Google Play, Vudu, iTunes
Director: Ron Yuan
Writer: Li Wei
Stars: Jade Chynoweth, Sean Lew, Janelle Ginestra, Stuart D. Latham, Zack Roberts, Meiqi Meng, Kim Sung-joo
Genre: Romance, Dance
Living in a faraway village in China, Qingqing lives with her grandfather in a small house and aspires to become a really famous dancer someday. When her grandfather passes away, Qingqing decides to follow her dream and leaves her village behind to become a dancer. She gets rejected when he auditions for a dance company as she lacks formal training. Desperate to prove her worth, Qingqing decides to join a Dance competition held by a popular dance academy in Shanghai.
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To train for the competition, she takes the help of Jiajia who becomes her mentor. Together they develop a new dance style where they mix Traditional Chinese dances with modern hip-hop moves. As they prepare for the competition, Qingqing has to overcome the grief of losing her grandfather, and Jiajia has to confront his past and reconcile with his lost family.
Following this, they end up winning the competition and gaining a lot of fame and recognition from it, but soon realize that this comes with its own set of problems like the industry forcing you to follow their standards. Qingqing and Jiajia decided to fight against such norms and become a huge inspiration for the next generation.
Conclusion
A franchise that is focused on the art of dance and pushing the youth to follow their passion and dreams, which is a very positive outlook for the movies. So, if you enjoy watching dance competitions or shows, you’ll probably appreciate viewing the Step Up films. If you approach these films with an understanding of the medium, you will find that you enjoy them. If you are looking to get into the series this is the perfect time to do it, and if you have already watched them, give them a rewatch as you will definitely come out with a better appreciation for the movies.
Step Up Movies According to IMDb Ratings
- Step Up (2006) – 6.5 with 122K Votes
- Step Up 4: Revolution (2012) – 6.4 with 57K Votes
- Step Up 2 (2008) – 6.2 with 89K Votes
- Step Up 3D (2010) – 6.1 with 59K Votes
- Step Up: All In (2014) – 5.9 with 35K Votes
- Step Up: Year of the Dance (2019) – 3.7 with 2.3K Votes
Step Up Movies According to Box Office Collection
- Step Up 3D (2010) – $159.2 Million
- Step Up 2 (2008) – $150.8 Million
- Step Up 4: Revolution (2012) – $140.4 Million
- Step Up (2006) – $114.2 Million
- Step Up: All In (2014) – $86.1 Million
- Step Up: Year of the Dance (2019) – $338,518
FAQs
The following is the correct order to watch Step Up movies: Step Up (2006), Step Up 2: The Streets (2008), Step Up 3D (2010), Step Up Revolution (2012), Step Up All In (2014) and Step Up: Year of the Dance (2020).
The first five movies are all connected to each other through some series of events or characters. The only standalone movie in the series is Step Up: Year of the Dance commonly known as Step Up: China, which is not connected to any of the previous movies.
There are a total of 6 Step Up movies released since the first one in 2006. The most recent release in the franchise is Step Up: Year of the Dance commonly known as Step Up: China which was released in 2021.
Step Up movies are rated to be PG-13 which means people above 13 can watch the movie freely, but for anyone under the age of 13, parental guidance is advised.