One of the more surprising box office hits of last year was the magician adventure pic Now You See Me.  The film had a solid opening weekend, but it continued to do swell business in the ensuing weeks, going on to gross $351.7 million worldwide against a budget of $75 million.  As with most successful studio films where everyone doesn’t die at the end, Summit Entertainment began to move forward on a prospective sequel.  Following the official Now You See Me 2 announcement, Summit expressed its desire to begin filming in 2014, and while director Louis Leterrier was expected to return, he’s currently busy gearing up to helm the action-comedy Grimsby.  As such, Summit is on the hunt for a new director for the magician sequel, and G.I. Joe: Retaliation helmer Jon M. Chu is reportedly at the top of their list.  More after the jump.

One of the many films to premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival is writer/director Richard Ayoade’s The Double.  Based on the novella by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, the film stars Jesse Eisenberg as a government clerk whose life is destroyed after what he believes to be an exact copy of himself begins working in his office and attempts to ruin his life.  As you can see in the just released trailer, The Double takes place in its own world and Ayoade has created something cool that hopefully you’ll be able to see in the near future.  The film also stars Mia Wasikowska, Wallace Shawn, Rade Serbedzija, James Fox, and Yasmin Paige.

Shortly after the premiere I got to sit down with Jesse Eisenberg for an extended video interview.  He talked about being at TIFF, what The Double is about, his initial thoughts on the script and his early talks with Ayoade that convinced him to do the role.  Eisenberg also discussed preparation process, his thoughts on the possibility of working in television, upcoming projects like Midnight Sun, his play The Revisionist, the status of the Now You See Me sequel, and a lot more.  Hit the jump to watch.

Now available on Blu-ray/DVD, Now You See Me is about a group of talented magicians, known as The Four Horsemen (played by Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher and Dave Franco), who mesmerize their audiences with a series of bold heists, all while pursuing a hidden agenda that has the FBI and Interpol scrambling to anticipate their next move.  Blending astonishing illusions with exhilarating action, they amaze and baffle the authorities with their intricately planned capers.

During this recent exclusive interview with Collider, master magician David Copperfield, who is considered by many to be the greatest illusionist of our time, as well as being Guinness-certified as the highest grossing solo entertainer of all time, talked about collaborating on Now You See Me, drawing a lot of his inspiration from the world of film, why he enjoys consulting on movies, the challenges of making magic credible on screen, why a good magician also needs to be a good showman, the pressures of being at the top of his game, how often things go wrong during a performance, and what he’s focusing on next, in his career.  Check out what he had to say after the jump. 

It may be a little tough to believe, but the magician heist pic Now You See Me was one of the highest grossing films of this summer.  With a domestic gross of $116 million, the film made more at the U.S. box office than tentpoles like The Hangover Part III, Pacific Rim, White House Down, and yes The Lone Ranger.  As such, it didn’t come as a huge shock when Summit Entertainment announced that it was moving forward with a sequel, with filming planned to get underway in 2014.  While we still don’t know anything about the film’s plot, director Louis Leterrier has now confirmed that he will be returning to the director’s chair.  Hit the jump for more, including how a sequel was always a part of the plan.

One of the biggest box office surprises of 2013 thus far has been director Louis Leterrier’s magician heist pic Now You See Me.  The $75 million film went on to gross $115.6 million domestically, and it’s international total now stands at $119.3.  When you consider that some major studio tentpoles (ahem The Lone Ranger) have failed to cross the $100 million mark stateside, that is an incredibly impressive performance; obviously this means it’s time to make a sequel.  THR reports that Lionsgate and Summit are moving forward with a follow-up film, with production currently “penciled in” for 2014.  Should that plan stick, we could expect to possibly see Now You See Me 2 hit theaters in 2015.  Hit the jump for more.

Between the record-breaking grosses of May and next week’s Man of Steel launch, this was supposed to be a quiet weekend at the box office. Universal’s The Purge had other plans. The low-budget horror film took first place and more than doubled its pre-release projections with an estimated $36.4 million from 2,536 locations. The box office bonanza did not extend to The Internship, however. The comedy opened in fourth with an estimated $18.1 million – half of what The Purge realized in 800 fewer theatres.

Now playing in theaters is director Louis Leterrier’s (The Incredible Hulk) magician-centered thriller Now You See Me.  For those unfamiliar with the story, it follows an FBI squad on the heels of a team of bank-robbing magicians who share their profits with the audience.  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 and check out all of our previous coverage.

During my interview Woody Harrelson, he talked about how much fun he had making Now You See Me, what he learned about magic (including performing a magic trick on camera!), what it was like working for Leterrier and his always moving camera, and more.  In addition, he also talked about Out of the Furnace, and his upcoming HBO detective show with Matthew McConaughey.  Hit the jump to watch.

After leading the biggest Memorial Day box office of all time, Fast & Furious 6 remained on top for a second weekend with an estimated $34.5 million. The film’s 65% drop left plenty of room for a new release to take over top honors – provided that new release wasn’t Sony’s After Earth. The sci-fi adventure was aiming for a $35-$40 million debut. Instead, the combined star-power of Will and Jaden Smith was only good enough for third place behind Now You See Me… a genuine upset for a film from the supposedly ‘cursed’ genre of magic.

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 with the story, it follows an FBI squad on the heels of a team of bank-robbing magicians who share their profits with the audience.  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 and check out all of our previous coverage.

During my interview with Eisenberg, he talked about how much fun he had making Now You See Me, what he learned about magic, New Orleans, what it was like working for Leterrier and his always moving camera, and more.  In addition, he also talked about director Richard Ayoade‘s next movie The Double.  Hit the jump to watch.

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 with the story, it follows an FBI squad on the heels of a team of bank-robbing magicians who share their profits with the audience.  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 and check out all of our previous coverage.

During my interview with Fisher, she talked about the success of The Great Gatsby, how much fun she had making Now You See Me, what she learned about magic, her newfound respect for actresses that have done action in high heels, filming in New Orleans, the Untitled Elmore Leonard Project, and more.  Hit the jump to watch.

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 with the story, it follows an FBI squad on the heels of a team of bank-robbing magicians who share their profits with the audience.  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 and check out all of our previous coverage.

During my interview with Ruffalo, he talked about how much fun he had making the movie, what he learned about magic, what it was like working for Leterrier and his always moving camera, and more.  In addition, he talked about how his life has changed over the past year, and if he’s talked to Joss Whedon about The Avengers sequel.  Hit the jump to watch.

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.