Another new role for Isla!? How exciting!! It’s a different genre than we’re used to seeing her in too, and the cast is good.
Isla Fisher, currently in Australia filming Baz Luhrmann’s “The Great Gatsby,” is in negotiations to join the cast of Summit Entertainment’s magician heist pic “Now You See Me.”
Mark Ruffalo is set to star as the leader of a team of FBI agents who are investigating the Four Horsemen, a squad of the world’s greatest illusionists who pull off a series of daring bank heists during their performances, then shower the profits on their auds. Jesse Eisenberg will play the arrogant yet brilliant leader of the Four Horsemen, while Morgan Freeman and Melanie Laurent co-star as an ex-magician and a federal agent, respectively.
Fisher is in talks to play Henley, a master technician who builds contraptions to aid in the illusion of the heists. Amanda Seyfried had been in negotiations for the role but her deal never closed.
Louis Leterrier is directing from a script by Edward Ricourt (“Year 12”) and Boaz Yakin.
Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci are producing via their shingle Kurtzman Orci Paper Products, whose Bobby Cohen will exec produce along with Yakin.
Fisher recently voiced a role in “Rango” and is set to return to the sound booth to voice the Tooth Fairy in DreamWorks Animation’s “Rise of the Guardians.” She’s playing Myrtle Wilson, a married woman who has an affair with Tom Buchanan (Joel Edgerton) in “Great Gatsby.”
She’s repped by CAA and Mosaic, as well as Shanahan Management in Australia.
– variety.com
A few more details from indiewire.com:
Louis Leterrier has proved himself to be solid visualist, with a solid sense of action choreography but his films thus far haven’t quite let him fully flex his directorial muscles. However, this latest, the magician heist thriller “Now You See Me” is not only boasting a pretty great premise, but has also attracted a solid cast thus far including Jesse Eisenberg, Melanie Laurent, Mark Ruffalo and Morgan Freeman, but a minor casting shakeup is underway.
Isla Fisher has now joined the film, taking the role previously slotted for Amanda Seyfried according to Variety. Frankly, it’s pretty solid swap out and with Fisher on board, the cast remains very strong. Penned by Boaz Yakin (”Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time,” “Fresh”) and newcomer Edward Ricourt, the story follows a crack FBI squad in a game of cat-and-mouse against a super team of the world’s greatest illusionists, who pull off a series of daring bank heists during their performances and showers the profits on to their audiences. Fisher will play Henley, “a master technician who builds contraptions to aid in the illusion of the heists.”
No start date has been announced just yet, but the project is set up over at Summit Entertainment and we’d guess late 2012 or early 2013 release is a safe bet.
– indiewire.com
And an interesting comment from cinemablend.com:
Have you ever been to a child’s birthday party watching a magician pull miles of handkerchiefs from his sleeve and thought to yourself, “this guy is probably masterminding a heist as he does this?” No? Me neither, but wouldn’t you love to see a movie with that exact plot? Well you’re in luck because that happens to be the central conceit behind Summit Entertainment’s upcoming film Now You See Me. And, according to Variety, Isla Fisher was recently added to the cast, which already includes Morgan Freeman, Mark Ruffalo, Melanie Laurent, and Jesse Eisenberg.
Listening to the plot description for Now You See Me, you can almost smell popcorn in the air. This thing has crowd-pleaser written all over it. In addition to its cast of box office draws, the film also has the advantage of being directed by Louis Letterier. Letterier also helmed Clash of the Titans and The Incredible Hulk, as well as 2005’s Unleashed with Jet Li. What this tells us is that Lettier knows how to direct huge blockbusters as well as action films with complex character development. This bodes well for Now You See Me.
Isla Fisher, most recently of Rango, is adorable, but she’s also a much better actress than she often is given the chance to demonstrate. She is primary utilized in comedies of varying degrees of quality. In Now You See Me, she plays a technician who builds devices that the magicians use to execute their heists. It’s a part that seems brainier and more skilled than her usual fare. It will be interesting to see what she does with the role. Fisher will also get the chance to work outside of her normal comfort zone when she takes on the role of Myrtle in Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby, currently filming in Australia. She’s got the talent, and it’s nice to see filmmakers giving her more diverse roles.
Apparently Amanda Seyfried was originally courted for this part, but no deal was ever finalized. Maybe she worried that she’d be shooting a sequel to In Time that would conflict with Now You See Me; set to be released in 2014.
– cinemablend.com