‘Now You See Me 3? in the Works at Lionsgate

Unclear as to whether Isla will reprise her role in this 3rd film yet – we’ll keep you posted….

‘Now You See Me 3? in the Works at Lionsgate

Lionsgate has begun developing “Now You See Me 3,” a year before it releases “Now You See Me 2? on June 10, 2016, as part of its strategy to focus on franchises.

CEO Jon Feltheimer made the disclosure Friday during the company’s conference call with analysts to discuss quarterly earnings. “We’ve already begun early planning for ‘Now You See Me 3,’” he said.

Feltheimer said production has wrapped on “Now You See Me 2.” Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Dave Franco, Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine are reprising their roles while Lizzy Caplan has replaced Isla Fisher.

Feltheimer said Lionsgate believes that the movie will top the $350 million grossed by the original comedy caper in 2013.

Jon M. Chu is directing the sequel from a script by Ed Solomon and Pete Chiarelli. Producers are Alex Kurtzman and Bobby Cohen.

Lionsgate has seen strong performances from its “Twilight,” “Hunger Games” and “Divergent” franchises and recently announced the plans for a sequel to Keanu Reeves’ “John Wick.”

Variety

“Now You See Me” sequel has an official title

Mark Ruffalo recently took to his instagram account to reveal the title of the Now You See Me sequel, which is Now You See Me: The Second Act. The synopsis is as follows:

One year after outwitting the FBI and winning the public’s adulation with their mind-bending spectacles, the Four Horsemen resurface in Now You See Me: The Second Act only to find themselves face to face with a new enemy who enlists them to pull off their most dangerous heist yet.

John Chu directs the returning cast of Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman, along with new additions Daniel Radcliffe, Lizzy Caplan and Jay Chou. Still no official word on whether Isla will be returning, though!

The film is currently set for release on June 10th 2016.

“Now You See Me 2” and “Grimsby” release dates

Lionsgate has announced that Now You See Me 2 (rumoured to be titled Now You Don’t) will be released on June 10th 2016. Michael Caine has revealed that Daniel Radcliffe will be joining the cast as his son. Some recent reports suggest that Isla will not be returning for the sequel because she will be otherwise engaged with family business (we will wait to hear what – if anything – Isla and Sacha say on this!) when filming is due to start in November.

Isla and Sacha’s first project together – Grimsby – will be released on July 31st 2015. The film is said to be about a British Black-ops spy whose brother is a football hooligan.

‘Now You See Me 2? Gets ‘G.I. Joe: Retaliation’ Director Jon Chu

‘Now You See Me 2? Gets ‘G.I. Joe: Retaliation’ Director Jon Chu

Jon M. Chu is in talks with Lionsgate to direct “Now You See Me 2,” which is set for a fall start.

The studio has been touting “Now You See Me 2? as a key component in its strategy to capitalize on franchises. It has not yet dated the sequel.

Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher and Mark Ruffalo have been signed to reprise their roles from last year’s comedy-drama, which grossed $350 million worldwide.

Louis Leterrier directed the original from a script by Edward Ricourt, Boaz Yakin and Ed Solomon with a team of four magicians — also known as The Four Horsemen — pulling off a series of daring heists against a corrupt bank. “Now You See Me” was produced by Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and Bobby Cohen.

Chu directed three “Step Up” movies, “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” and “Jem and the Holograms.” He’s repped by WME, Principato-Young Entertainment and attorney Allison Binder.

Variety

Leterrier: NYSM cast yet to reunite

Leterrier: NYSM cast yet to reunite

Louis Leterrier has revealed getting Jesse Eisenberg and the rest of the Now You See Me cast together for the sequel has been a “nightmare”.

The French filmmaker, who will return to direct the follow-up, admitted the ensemble cast, including Jesse, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher, Sir Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman, have not committed to the sequel yet.

“We are talking to everyone. No one signs onto sequels without approving the script,” he said.

Jesse, Woody, Isla and Dave Franco played street magicians who carried out heists, with Mark as the cop on their tail.

The 40-year-old continued: “It’s amazing to do a movie with a cast like this – putting it back together is a nightmare. Everyone is extremely busy and one thing an actor doesn’t like to do is stay at home, waiting for the phone to ring, so getting all the actors back is a tough one.”

Louis, who has been working with writers to get the right script and scouting for locations, promised that the follow-up will be better than the original.

“The first one was mostly in America so we are debating where to shoot the sequel – we want to shoot it somewhere else. I’m coming to London to see if we can do something there, then France and other places,” he said.

“Jesse is the one who asks me, ‘What’s happening? Why is it taking so long?’ It’s a very tough one to crack because we want to do a sequel that’s as good, if not better than the first one.”

Louis admitted the film’s success was a “surprise”, saying: “We were so happy and dumbfounded . It’s one of those rare moments where you think, ‘This one actually worked’.”

“Now You See Me” director talks to MovieWeb about sequel

At the start of the month, Now You See Me director Louis Letterier spoke to MovieWeb about the to promote its US DVD/Blu-ray release. Below is what he said about the sequel (can’t wait!), and hop on over to MovieWeb to read his full interview.

Is there anything else you’re working on that you can talk about?

Louis Leterrier: “We’re actively working on the sequel to Now You See Me, so that is happening. We’re writing it, and it’s pretty fun. We had such a great time doing that and we loved the characters. Our biggest problem now is that we have too many great ideas. We’re sort of saying, ‘What if he would do that? That would be amazing, I want to see this, I want to see that.’ We want it to be intense and as twisty as the first one, but also learn more about the characters and go deeper, what a great sequel should do. That’s going to take not too long, but enough so, just like in the first one, it’s perfectly crafted. If you think about it, David Copperfield takes five years to prep, to create and prep. We just have a couple of years to do ours. David Copperfield was always saying, ‘Your biggest challenge is you only have two years to do your movie, or one year to do your movie.’

Will the sequel delve into the actual ‘society’ that we see, and how that works?

Louis Leterrier: (At this point, the rep chimes in and says this is the last question). I can’t answer, last question! Saved by the bell! No, no, I can’t. (Laughs).