The opening line of Louis Leterrier‘s Now You See Me warns “The closer you look, the less you’ll see.”  But it doesn’t matter how closely or carlessly you look because there’s not much worth seeing in the film.  For a movie that centers on magicians, the most spectacular thing about Now You See Me is how spectacularly it wastes both its premise and its cast.  Leterrier seems torn between wanting to provide cool magic tricks that could conceivably be performed in real life, and then he swings wildly to effects-laden set pieces.  The story also doesn’t seem to have much affinity towards magicians since it portrays them as smug and self-satisfied.  But the film’s most egregious trespass is taking an outstanding cast and forgetting to give them characters.  The movie should craft an intriguing illusion, but aside from some clever moments and Mark Ruffalo‘s performance, Now You See Me is a cheap trick.

With director Louis Leterrier’s (The Incredible Hulk) magician-centered thriller Now You See Me opening May 31st, I recently went to New Orleans to interview the cast.  For those unfamiliar, the story follows an FBI squad on the heels of a team of bank-robbing magicians who share their profits with the audience, and the pic boasts an impressive ensemble cast that includes Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Mark Ruffalo, Michael Caine, Melanie Laurent and Morgan Freeman.  For more on the film, watch six clips, or check out all our previous coverage. 

During my interview with Dave Franco, he talked about how much fun he had making the movie, what he learned about magic, what it was like working for Louis Leterrier and  his always moving camera, and more.  In addition, he talked about if he’ll be in the 21 Jump Street sequel, and reveals Nicholas Stoller‘s Townies features tons of male nudity.  Hit the jump to watch.

Summit Entertainment has released eight character motion posters for Now You See Me.  I’ve enjoyed the posters for the film since they’re employing trippy optical illusions that fit in well with the plot about four magicians who use their tricks to rob banks.  This looks like a fun movie, and I hope it’s good because it would be a shame to waste a cast that includes Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Mark Ruffalo, Michael Caine, Melanie Laurent, and Morgan Freeman.

Hit the jump to check out the posters.  Now You See Me opens May 31st.

With director Louis Leterrier’s (The Incredible Hulk) magician-centered thriller Now You See Me opening May 31st, Summit Entertainment has provided us with six clips.  For those unfamiliar, the story follows an FBI squad on the heels of a team of bank-robbing magicians who share their profits with the audience, and the pic boasts an impressive ensemble cast that includes Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Mark Ruffalo, Michael Caine, Melanie Laurent and Morgan Freeman. 

Hit the jump to watch the clips, and if you missed any of my set visit coverage, here’s my video blog recap, and on set interviews with Ruffalo, Eisenberg, Fisher, and Leterrier.

Summit Entertainment has released the first extended clip from director Louis Leterrier’s (The Incredible Hulk) magician-centered thriller Now You See Me.  The clip shows the opening sequence from the film, as we’re introduced to Jesse Eisenberg’s David Blaine-esque card trick magician, Woody Harrelson’s mentalist character, Dave Franco’s pickpocket specialist, and Isla Fisher’s escape artist.  The film’s story centers on an FBI squad who is on the heels of a team of bank-robbing magicians who share their profits with the audience.  This opening sequence does a great job of teasing a hopefully fun and wholly entertaining thrill ride, and I’m eager to see more.

Hit the jump to watch the clip, and if you missed any of Steve’s set visit coverage check out his video blog recap and interviews with Mark Ruffalo, Eisenberg, Fisher, and Leterrier.  Now You See Me opens on May 31st.

Summit Entertainment has released a batch of new images from director Louis Leterrier’s (Clash of the Titans) upcoming film Now You See Me.  The story centers on a group of magicians who pull off bank heists during their death-defying acts, and the FBI squad tasked with catching them.  Leterrier has put together a great ensemble cast that includes Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Mark Ruffalo, and Morgan Freeman, and the film’s most recent trailer promises that Now You See Me will be a very fun ride.

Hit the jump to check out the new images.  The film also stars Michael Caine and Melanie Laurent.  Now You See Me opens on May 31st.

Summit Entertainment has released a new trailer for Now You See Me.  The story centers on a group of magicians who pull off bank heists during their death-defying acts, and the FBI squad tasked with catching them.  It appears that Morgan Freeman is tasked with being the expository character as he spends most of this new trailer explaining things, but we do get a closer look at the technical side of the group’s magic tricks in this clip.  The premise is admittedly a bit outlandish, but director Louis Letterier (The Incredible Hulk) has put together a great cast and this trailer hammers home the promise that Now You See Me should be a lot of fun.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.  The film stars Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Mark Ruffalo, Michael Caine, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco, and Melanie Laurent.  Now You See Me opens May 31st.

Three breakout comedy stars have added new projects to their rosters:

• Dave Franco (21 Jump Street) and Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Superbad) were just added to the impressive cast of Townies, also featuring Seth Rogen, Zac Efron, and possibly Rose Byrne.  The comedy will be directed by Nicholas Stoller (The Five-Year Engagement).

• Chris O’Dowd (Bridesmaids) is in talks to join Melissa McCarthy and Bill Murray in Ted Melfi’s St. Vincent De Van Nuys  After impressive turns with Girls and This is 40, this would see him re-teaming with his Bridesmaids costar McCarthy.

Hit the jump for more on each casting.

Summit has released a few new images from director Louis Letterier’s (The Incredible Hulk) magician-centered thriller Now You See Me.  The film follows an FBI squad on the heels of a team of bank-robbing magicians who share their profits with the audience.  The impressive ensemble cast is lead by Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher, Morgan Freeman, and Mark Ruffalo, and judging by the trailer the pic looks to be a lot of fun.

Hit the jump to take a look at the images, and click here to check out the film’s debut poster.  The pic also stars Melanie Laurent, Dave Franco, Common, and Michael Caine.  Now You See Me opens on May 31st.

In order to keep the zombie genre from rotting, it needs fresh life.  28 Days Later did away with the “z-word” and turned zombification into a virus.   Last year, ParaNorman took a compassionate view of the undead by seeing that they were just misunderstood albeit terrifying.  Warm Bodies moves in the direction of the latter to the point where it’s straining to even be a zombie movie.  Instead, Warm Bodies is more of a romance that embraces its reinvention of Romeo & Juliet, but with so much sweetness and charm, it’s hard to begrudge the lack of brain-eating or flesh-rotting.

Even though we’re nearly three months removed from Halloween, I want to use this week’s opening paragraph to throw some support behind director Michael Stephenson‘s touching documentary, The American Scream. I recently caught the film via Netflix where it’s available to “Watch Instantly” and I was impressed to say the least. Stephenson’s previous entry, the indelible Best Worst Movie, quickly became one of my all-time favorite docs for the unexpected emotional punch it packed in following the lives of those impacted by Troll 2. Scream delivered on a similar level with its themes of family, community, and the pursuit of one’s passion (in this case, home haunting). If you haven’t seen it already, I recommend either checking it out on Netflix or picking up a copy for yourself from the film’s website.

All recommendations aside, much to the surprise of no one, this week’s Top 5 is headlined by the announcement that J.J. Abrams will direct/produce Star Wars: Episode VII with accompaniment by our Bullet to the Head set visit, Warm Bodies video interviews with Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer and more, a G.I. Joe: Retaliation set visit preview and interviews with director Jon M. Chu and more, and all of our coverage out of Sundance 2013 to date. A brief recap and link to each is hidden in plain view after the jump.

Poor Dave Franco. The charming younger brother of James just can’t seem to catch a break in films. In Fright Night and 21 Jump Street, he’s the “other guy” – all the ladies choosing a different suitor, leaving ol’ Franco to either a.) get eaten by a vampire Colin Farrell or b.) go to prison. Not the greatest of options. I wish I could say things turn out differently for Franco in this week’s zombie rom-com Warm Bodies – but by the ten-minute mark, the poor kid’s zombie food and then somehow things get more tragic for his character. It’s a testament that even in a film as a light-hearted as Warm Bodies, Dave Franco still gets the short stick.

In the following interview with Franco, he discusses his character’s tragic arc, the plight of never getting the girl and whether or not he’ll be back for the 21 Jump Street sequel. For the full interview, hit the jump.

21 Jump Street was one of the biggest surprises of 2012 both critically and commercially – so it should come as no surprise that a sequel has been in the works for awhile now (our previous coverage can be found here  and here).  At the press junket for Warm Bodies, I had the opportunity to speak briefly with co-star Dave Franco about coping with the film’s surprising popularity and his involvement in the inevitable sequel.  At the end of the film, Franco’s character Eric was in precarious waters having been caught and presumably sent away to prison — but Franco said that he’ll still have a presence in the upcoming sequel.  Per Franco:

“I’ve heard little things… They claim I’ll be around.  Who knows how much they can use me because I’m in jail at this point but I’m hoping they can find a creative way to have me be a pivotal part of the story.”

For Franco’s full thoughts on 21 Jump Street, hit the jump.  Look for the full interview soon.

Just yesterday the first trailer for the magician-centered pic Now You See Me was released online, and now a large batch of images from the film have surfaced.  The movie follows an FBI squad on the heels of a team of bank-robbing magicians who share their profits with the audience.  Directed by Louis Letterier (Clash of the Titans), the film boasts an impressive ensemble cast that includes Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, Melanie Laurent, Morgan Freeman, and Michael Caine.  The trailer played a bit like a “fun” version of The Prestige with a dash of Ocean’s Eleven thrown in for good measure, and I’m interested to see what the full has in store.

Hit the jump to peruse the images.  The film also stars Isla Fisher, Dave Franco, and Common.  Now You See Me opens on June 7, 2013. [Update: We've been asked by the studio to take the images down as they were not part of an official release.]

The first trailer for Now You See Me has been released.  The film follows an FBI squad on the heels of a team of bank-robbing magicians who share their profits with the audience.  Sounds like Ocean’s Eleven with a magical twist, right? Well, the trailer shows that that’s certainly the case, but the “magic” tricks rely heavily on spectacle and computerized effects, throwing practicality right out the window. So it appears to be more of an action adventure flick with magical elements than any kind of head-scratcher; still could be fun though!

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  Directed by Louis Letterier (Clash of the Titans), the film stars Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Mark Ruffalo, Isla Fisher, Melanie Laurent, Dave Franco, Morgan Freeman, and Michael Caine.  Now You See Me opens on June 7, 2013.