"Now You See Me: Now You Don’t" Trailer: Jesse Eisenberg Recruits a New Generation of Magicians for a High-Stakes Diamond Heist in This Third Installment
The Four Horsemen are back, but this time with a new generation of illusionists in a new high-stakes heist that pits them against a dangerous criminal dynasty.
Look, we like magic as much as the next guy. But this Now You See Me franchise has always seemed to confuse us a little because the grand illusions in the films come off as completely silly and extremely unbelievable, at least for our liking, anyway.
To be real, The Four Horsemen are nothing but a bad Vegas act, less about smoke and mirrors and more about the magic of camera tricks, special effects, and editing. But it just dawned on us. The success of the franchise isn’t in the concept of four illusionists pulling off the greatest magic trick in the world to turn the tables on the most corrupted and powerful people. The success is the cast. Jesse Eisenberg, Dave Franco, Woody Harrelson, and now a returning Isla Fisher are the real magic. We just like seeing them together. If they happen to be performing a few supposedly mind-blowing illusions but secretly pulling off a big con to right some wrongs, so be it.
And to be fair, this franchise was never really about magic, per se, but more about the con—and the act of pulling the wool over people’s eyes and getting away with it scot-free.
It looks like Now You See Me: Now You Don’t, the third film in the series, will be doing just that, but with a slight twist: The Four Horsemen are now dead! Well, at least in the eyes of master street illusionist Danny Atlas (again played by Jesse Eisenberg).
It seems the band has broken up, and there’s a new, younger generation of tricksters taking on the Four Horsemen brand. They’re played by The Holdovers’ Dominic Sessa, Barbie’s Ariana Greenblatt, and I Saw the TV Glow’s Justice Smith. This magical trio has been using the Four Horsemen image as a way to gain clout and build their own reputation. But when Danny catches wind, he presents them with a proposition to prove their worth: help him steal one of the world’s most valuable diamonds from the Vanderberg family, a powerful blood diamond-dealing dynasty who have been laundering their blood money with warlords, arms dealers, and traffickers for decades. Now, it’s time to teach them a lesson, namely Veronika Vanderberg (played by Gone Girl’s Rosamund Pike), who is the face and leader of the family’s shady empire.
But when Danny and his new team attempt to nab the diamond and encounter a few hiccups, guess who comes in to help at the last minute? The other three Horsemen (Franco, Harrelson, and Fisher). And not to nitpick here, but they just appear out of thin air. That’s not magic. That’s some kind of Avengers shit.
Anyhoo. Now we got the film’s real set-up. It’s the ultimate showdown! Seven magicians... oh. wait. Morgan Freeman also returns as magic legend-turned-grandmaster debunker Thaddeus Bradley.
Okay, so, eight magicians against one “world-wide criminal network.” It’s gonna take more than a card trick to get out of this unscathed. But if anyone can, it’s the Four... eh, Eight Horsemen!
Director Ruben Fleischer, following Jon M. Chu and Louis Leterrier, is the new helmer taking over the reins for this third installment. Fleischer has previously worked with Eisenberg and Harrelson on the Zombieland films. He also directed the first Venom: Let There Be Carnage film and is coming off the video game film adaptation of Uncharted.
Now You See Me: Now You Don’t will be opening in theaters nationwide starting November 14th. Watch the film’s first official trailer, above.
