Jessie Eisenberg, Morgan Freeman and Woody Harrelson are set to return for a slightly different Now You See Me 3.
It may be getting close to a decade since we last had a Now You See Me movie, and the ending to the second one may well have required an encyclopaedia to explain just how it worked, but that never stopped chat about a Now You See Me 3.
After all, the core idea of a bunch of magicians going all Ocean’s 11 and performing heists was a pretty sound one. Given that the two films to date were reasonably economic to make and returned over half a billion dollars, it probably made sense to magic up a third.
But heck, it’s taken a bit of time. Lionsgate was mulling over a direct sequel for some time, which would have seen the likes of Lizzy Caplan, Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson and Mark Ruffalo back. Daniel Radcliffe may have been tempted to return as well
However, with the hiring of Eric Warren Singer back in 2020 to take on the script, the word was shifting towards being something closer to a fresh approach for the franchise. In 2022, it was said to be happening. Yet Singer is no longer involved with the film, and Lionsgate too has changed it turns a little. Now, according to its film chair Joe Drake, the new film will be a “reimagining”.
I’ve been writing the word ‘reimagining’ in film news stories for years now without any certain definition of what it means. Just that it involves staying in the coating of the same franchise, just without having to pay much attention to the previous story.
That does mean the option was in place for a clean slate with none of the cast coming back. Yet according to Screen Daily, we’re likely to get Eisenberg, Harrelson and Morgan Freeman back. Michael Lesslie is penning the screenplay for it.
Instead, it does have one fresh piece of news up its sleeve: it’s found a director.
Ruben Fleischer, who we previously saw at the controls of Venom and Uncharted – and Zombieland and Gangster Squad before that – is in charge this time.
Filming is expected to get underway in 2024, which points towards a 2025 release. More news as we get it. If we had any more magic gags left, we’d end the story with one. But we don’t.
Bah.
