Now You See Me (film)

Now You See Me

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Louis Leterrier
Produced by
Screenplay by
Story by
  • Boaz Yakin
  • Edward Ricourt
Starring
Music by Brian Tyler
Cinematography
Edited by
Production
company
Distributed by Summit Entertainment
Release dates
  • May 21, 2013 (2013-05-21) (New York City)
  • May 31, 2013 (2013-05-31) (United States)
Running time
 115 minutes[1]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $75 million[2][3]
Box office $351.7 million[3]

Now You See Me is a 2013 American heist thriller film directed by Louis Leterrier and written by Ed Solomon, Boaz Yakin and Edward Ricourt. The film features an ensemble cast of Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, Mélanie Laurent, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman. The plot follows an FBI agent and an Interpol detective who track a team of illusionists who pull off bank heists during their performances and reward their audiences with the money.

The film premiered in New York City on May 21, 2013 before its official release in the United States on May 31, 2013 by Summit Entertainment. The film received mixed reviews from critics but became a box office success, grossing $351.7 million worldwide against a budget of $75 million. The film won the Favorite Thriller Movie at the People's Choice Awards in 2014 and also received nominations for the Empire Award for Best Thriller and the Saturn Award for Best Thriller Film and Best Music. A sequel was released on June 10, 2016.

Plot

Four stage magicians, J. Daniel "Danny" Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson), Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher), and Jack Wilder (Dave Franco), are each given a tarot card that lead them to the same empty New York City apartment, where they find information from an unknown benefactor.

A year later, the four perform their first major performance as the Four Horsemen in an elaborate Las Vegas show funded by insurance magnate Arthur Tressler (Michael Caine). Their final trick appears to transport one of the audience members to the vault of his bank, the Crédit Républicain in Paris, where stacks of new euro bills are stored. At the magicians' commands, the fans in the vault activate, drawing the bills into the vents and then showering the Las Vegas crowd with them. The euros are shown to be real, and the vault in Paris is found to be empty of its recent shipment of euros, leading FBI agent Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo), and Interpol agent Alma Dray (Mélanie Laurent), to be partnered and investigate the Horsemen. The two question the magicians but have no evidence to hold them. Dylan and Alma turn to Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman), a former magician who now helps to explain the tricks behind other magic acts. Thaddeus demonstrates how they used a mock vault under the Las Vegas stage, and that the group must have stolen the money in Paris before it arrived at the bank, replacing it with flash paper that left no evidence.

Dylan, Alma, and Thaddeus follow the Horsemen to their next show in New Orleans, where their final trick appears to transfer millions of dollars from Tressler's private accounts to those in the audience, made up of people that were denied insurance claims by Tressler's company in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Dylan and Alma attempt to apprehend the four, but the magicians elude capture. Tressler hires Thaddeus to expose the Horsemen in revenge for the loss of his money. Alma investigates the Horsemen and determines they are connected to a group called the Eye, a small group of magicians that claim to have access to real magic. She finds out one of the Eye's members, Lionel Shrike, had previously been exposed by Thaddeus but died in a locked-safe escape trick he was performing to try to regain his standing. Alma suspects a fifth person is aiding the Horsemen.

Alma's research leads the FBI to the New York City apartment. When they raid it, the other three escape while Jack recovers numerous documents and then leads the authorities on a high-speed car chase. Jack loses control of his car, causing it to flip and catch fire. Dylan is unable to save Jack, but manages to recover the papers, pointing to the Horsemen's next planned crime, stealing millions of dollars in cash out of a large Elkhorn safe. Dylan, Alma, and Thaddeus find the safe has already been stolen, and when they track it down, its contents have been replaced with balloon animals. The Horsemen broadcast they will perform their final show that night at 5 Pointz, inviting the public to attend. The FBI and police converge on the scene and amid the chaos search for the Horsemen. The remaining Horsemen appear to the crowd, giving their fans a farewell and a message about an ulterior purpose, and then run to jump off a roof; Dylan attempts to shoot them but Alma holds him back. The three jump, turning into a shower of money over the crowd. The money is counterfeit, but the audience's race to collect it prevents the authorities from tracking the real Horsemen.

After the show, Thaddeus walks to his car, only to find it full of the money stolen from the Elkhorn safe, and he is arrested. Dylan speaks to Thaddeus in jail, where Thaddeus slowly comes to realize that Alma's theory was correct, and Dylan was the fifth Horseman. Dylan quietly walks away. Elsewhere, the Horsemen, including Jack who had faked his death, meet at the carousel in Central Park, and use their tarot cards to turn it on. Dylan arrives and welcomes the four to the Eye.

Later, at the Pont des Arts, Dylan meets with Alma and reveals he is Shrike's son. He brought the Horsemen together to get retribution for his father's death: the Elkhorn Safe Company for providing a faulty safe that led to the accident, Thaddeus for humiliating him, and the Crédit Républicain and Tressler's insurance companies for failing to pay out afterwards. Alma, who has come into a romantic relationship with Dylan, decides not to turn him in. She takes a lock and a key that Dylan produces, putting the lock on a chain fence and throwing the key into the Seine.

Cast

Production

On October 25, 2011, Summit Entertainment officially announced a release date for Now You See Me, set for July 18, 2013.[5] On November 3, 2011, the company revealed the film's first synopsis and teaser poster.[6]

Filming and on-set incident

On January 16, 2012, shooting began in New Orleans, Louisiana, which lasted until March 26, 2012.[7] Additional filming took place in New York City on February 13[8] and in Las Vegas from April 9, 2012 to the following day.[9] During filming of the scene where Henley Reeves tries to escape from a tank of water and piranhas, Isla Fisher came close to drowning. Fisher had become stuck and tried to alert the crew by banging on the window she was facing, but the cast and crew did not think anything of it because that was what the character was supposed to be doing. She was able to untangle the chain and get out of the tank safely.[10]

Music

Now You See Me (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Soundtrack album by Brian Tyler
Released May 28, 2013
Recorded 2013
Genre Soundtrack
Length 51:21
Label Glassnote Records
Producer Brian Tyler
Brian Tyler film scores chronology
Iron Man 3
(2013)		 Now You See Me
(2013)		 Standing Up
(2013)

The official soundtrack for the film was composed by Brian Tyler and was released by Glassnote Records on May 28, 2013 for physical purchase and digital download.[11]

Track listing

All music composed by Brian Tyler, except where noted.

Release

The film premiered in New York City on May 21, 2013 before its official release in the United States on May 31, 2013 by Summit Entertainment.

Home media

Now You See Me was released on DVD and Blu-ray on September 3, 2013 through Lionsgate Home Entertainment. The Blu-ray release contains an extended version of the film, featuring ten additional minutes.[12] It also contains two featurettes: a behind-the-scenes and a "History of Magic", plus 30 minutes of deleted scenes.

Reception

Box office

At the end of its box office run, Now You See Me grossed $117.7 million in North America and $234 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $351.7 million, against a budget of $75 million.[3]

Despite mixed reviews, the film had a successful box office run, placing second behind Fast & Furious 6 and taking $29,350,389 on its opening weekend from 2,925 theaters. By the end of June, it had grossed double its production budget.[3] The film stayed in the top 10 of the North American box office for six weeks after release.

The biggest markets in other territories were France, China, Russia, South Korea, United Kingdom and Australia where the film grossed $25.7 million, $22.9 million, $21.2 million $17.1 million $16.8 million and $16.1 million, respectively.[13]

Critical response

Now You See Me received mixed reviews from critics. The film's most common criticism is that various plot points were insufficiently resolved at the film's conclusion, leaving some questions unanswered or answered unclearly (although some suggested that this was intentional, leaving room for a sequel).[14] On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 49%, based on 152 reviews, with an average rating of 5.7/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Now You See Me's thinly sketched characters and scattered plot rely on sleight of hand from the director to distract audiences."[15] Metacritic assigned the film a score of 50 out of 100, based on 35 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[16] Audience polls conducted by CinemaScore give the film a grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale.[17] Peter Hammond from Movieline wrote, "Pure summer movie magic—literally. More fun than Ocean's 11, 12, and 13 combined. You won't believe your eyes—and that's the point."[18]

Accolades

List of awards and nominations
Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient Result Ref(s)
People's Choice Awards January 8, 2014 Favorite Thriller Movie Now You See Me Won [19]
Empire Awards 30 March 2014 Best Thriller Now You See Me Nominated
Saturn Awards June 26, 2014 Best Thriller Film Now You See Me Nominated
Best Music Brian Tyler Nominated

Sequels

Main article: Now You See Me 2

On July 3, 2013, after the box office success of the film, Lionsgate's CEO Jon Feltheimer officially confirmed that there would be a sequel to the film with production beginning in 2014 for an unspecified release date.[20] Louis Leterrier stated that he would return to direct the sequel.[21] However, in September 2014, it was confirmed that Jon M. Chu would replace Leterrier as director. Eisenberg, Ruffalo, Harrelson, Franco, Caine and Freeman are set to reprise their roles for the sequel. Fisher was unable to reprise her role and was replaced by Lizzy Caplan. It was released on June 10, 2016, and was titled Now You See Me: The Second Act.[22] On October 2, 2014, Michael Caine said in an interview that Daniel Radcliffe would be playing his son in the film and that shooting was expected to begin that December in London.[23] Filming began in late November.[24] On May 22, 2015, Lionsgate revealed the details about the development of the sequel, when CEO Jon Feltheimer announced that they had "already begun early planning for Now You See Me 3."[25]

References

  1. ↑ "NOW YOU SEE ME (12A)". British Board of Film Classification. May 28, 2013. Retrieved May 28, 2013.
  2. ↑ Kaufman, Amy. "'Fast & Furious 6' to speed past 'After Earth' at the box office". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 2, 2013. "Now You See Me" cost roughly $75 million
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Now You See Me (2013)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved November 3, 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Now You See Me (I) (2013) Full Cast & Crew". imdb.com. IMDb. Retrieved November 3, 2016.
  5. ↑ Lussier, Germain (October 25, 2011). "'Ender's Game' Has A Release Date, So Does 'Red 2,' 'Now You See Me' And Others". Slashfilm.
  6. ↑ Chitwood, Adam (November 3, 2011). "First Synopsis and Promo Poster for NOW YOU SEE ME Starring Jesse Eisenberg and Woody Harrelson". Collider.
  7. ↑ "Be on the lookout for Tom Cruise, Leonardo DiCaprio, Chris Evans, Tom Hanks, Jesse Eisenberg & more celebs filming in Louisianadate=December 21, 2011". On Location Vacations.
  8. ↑ "'Now You See Me' filming in NYC tomorrow". On Location Vacations. February 13, 2012.
  9. ↑ "'Now You See Me', starring Jesse Eisenberg & Woody Harrelson, is filming in Las Vegas next week". On Location Vacations. April 6, 2012.
  10. ↑ Graham, Caroline (May 11, 2013). "'"I feared that I was about to drown": Isla Fisher reveals moment daring underwater stunt went terrifyingly wrong". Dailymail.co.uk. Retrieved December 10, 2014.
  11. ↑ "Various Artists - Now You See Me [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]". Allmusic. allmusic.com. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
  12. ↑ "Now You See Me Arrives on Blu-ray and DVD September 3". ComingSoon.net. CraveOnline. August 13, 2013. Retrieved August 13, 2013.
  13. ↑ "The Judge – International Box Office". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
  14. ↑ "Review: 'Now You See Me' Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher & Mark Ruffalo | The Playlist". Blogs.indiewire.com. Retrieved June 2, 2013.
  15. ↑ Now You See Me at Rotten Tomatoes
  16. ↑ "Now You See Me". Metacritic. Retrieved November 25, 2014.
  17. ↑ Stewart, Andrew (June 2, 2013). "'Now You See Me' Pulls $28 Mil-Plus Rabbit, Beating 'After Earth' With $27 Mil". Variety. Retrieved June 22, 2014.
  18. ↑ "Now You See Me - Movie Review". Youtube.com/user/MovielineNetwork. Retrieved May 30, 2013.
  19. ↑ "Now You See Me (I) (2013) Awards". imdb.com. IMDb. Retrieved November 3, 2016.
  20. ↑ Brew, Simon (August 13, 2013). "'Now You See Me' to get sequel". Den of Geek. Retrieved September 10, 2014.
  21. ↑ Douglas, Edward (August 28, 2013). "'Exclusive: Louis Leterrier Back for Now You See Me Sequel". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved September 10, 2014.
  22. ↑ "Lionsgate Sets Dates for Now You See Me 2 and Dirty Grandpa". ComingSoon.net. September 9, 2014. Retrieved September 10, 2014.
  23. ↑ "Daniel Radcliffe to Play Michael Caine's Son in NOW YOU SEE ME 2". GeekTyrant.com. October 2, 2014. Retrieved October 2, 2014.
  24. ↑ Mark Ruffalo. "And so it begins... Now You See Me...again.". Mark Ruffalo Facebook. Retrieved November 25, 2014.
  25. ↑ McNary, Dave (May 22, 2015). "'Now You See Me 3′ in the Works at Lionsgate". variety.com. Retrieved May 22, 2015.

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