Now You See Me (film)

Now You See Me
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Louis Leterrier
Screenplay by	Ed Solomon Boaz Yakin Edward Ricourt
Story by	Boaz Yakin Edward Ricourt
Produced by	Bobby Cohen Alex Kurtzman Roberto Orci
Starring	Jesse Eisenberg Mark Ruffalo Woody Harrelson Mélanie Laurent Isla Fisher Dave Franco Common Michael Caine Morgan Freeman
Cinematography	Mitchell Amundsen Larry Fong
Edited by	Robert Leighton Vincent Tabaillon
Music by	Brian Tyler
Production company	K/O Paper Products
Distributed by	Summit Entertainment Lionsgate
Release dates	May 31, 2013 (2013-05-31) (United States) July 31, 2013 (2013-07-31) (France)
Running time	115 minutes 125 minutes (Extended cut)
Countries	United States France
Language	English
Budget	$75 million
Box office	$323,916,096

Now You See Me is a 2013 French-American caper thriller film directed by Louis Leterrier. The film stars Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, Mélanie Laurent, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco, Common, Michael Caine, and Morgan Freeman.

It was released on May 31, 2013. Despite the mixed reviews from critics, the film has proved to be a box office success, and a sequel has been officially confirmed.

Plot

Four gifted street magicians—J. Daniel Atlas, Henley Reeves, Jack Wilder, and Merritt McKinney—are brought together by an unknown benefactor and, one year later, perform in Las Vegas as "The Four Horsemen", sponsored by insurance magnate Arthur Tressler. For the finale, a member of the audience is invited to help them in their next trick: robbing a bank. That member in an audience is Étienne Forcier, the account holder at the Crédit Républicain de Paris. Forcier is apparently teleported to his bank in Paris, where he activates an air-duct that vacuums up the money and showers it onto the crowd in Las Vegas.

Upon discovering that the money really is missing from the bank vault, FBI agent Dylan Rhodes is called to investigate the theft and is partnered with Interpol agent Alma Dray. They interrogate the Four Horsemen but release them when no explanation can be found. Dylan meets Thaddeus Bradley, an ex-magician making money by revealing the secrets behind other magicians' tricks. Thaddeus was in the audience and deduced that the Horsemen stole the money weeks before and manipulated the audience's perception of current events.

Dylan, Dray, and Thaddeus attend the Four Horsemen's next performance in New Orleans. The group's finale involves them stealing roughly $140 million from Tressler's bank account and distributing it to the audience, composed of people whose insurance claims had been denied or reduced by Tressler's company. Dylan attempts to arrest the Four Horsemen, but they escape with help from hypnotised audience members. An infuriated Tressler hires Thaddeus to expose and humiliate the Horsemen in their next performance. Later, while researching the Four Horsemen's background, Dray learns about rumors of a secret society of magicians called "The Eye", who steal from the rich and powerful to give to the needy, and suggests to a skeptical Dylan the case might be tied to a magician named Lionel Shrike, whom Thaddeus had exposed 30 years earlier and who was so embarrassed that he undertook a dangerous underwater stunt and drowned.

The Horsemen are located in New York, but they escape during the raid to arrest them. However, Jack is killed when he crashes a stolen car, and it bursts into flames and explodes. The remaining Horsemen vow to continue and complete their final performance, stealing a safe made by the same company that made the safe Lionel Shrike died in. Then they perform their one last show at 5 Pointz during which they seemingly vanish into thin air, transforming into loads of money that is showered on the crowd. The money turns out to be a fake and the real money is found stashed in Thaddeus's Range Rover. Thaddeus is then assumed to be the fifth Horseman and arrested, although he said that he was framed. Dylan visits Thaddeus in his cell, where Thaddeus explains that the only way the safe could have been removed was if Jack was still alive, but they would have also needed an inside man. Thaddeus realizes that Dylan is the fifth Horseman (when he disappears from the locked cell and reappearing on the outside). Dylan tells Thaddeus he wants him to spend the rest of his life in jail and leaves as Thaddeus asks why he did it.

The Horsemen are now rejoined by Jack, whose death was staged. They finally meet their benefactor and are surprised to find it is Dylan. He welcomes them into "The Eye."

Later, on the Pont des Arts in France, Dray is met by Dylan (as he reveals himself to be the son of Lionel Shrike, the magician who drowned years ago). He masterminded and designed the Horsemen plot to obtain revenge on those involved: Thaddeus, for humiliating his father; the Crédit Républicain de Paris and Tressler's company, who refused to pay the insurance on his father's death; and the company that produced the substandard safe used in the trick that led to its failure. Dray, however, decides not to turn him in. When Dray sees the lock with a key that Dylan magically handed out in front of her eyes, he proclaimed, "One more secret to lock away". As soon as Dray locks the lock on a chain fence with all of the locks that have been locked, she throws the key into the Seine.

Cast

• Jesse Eisenberg as J. Daniel Atlas (The Lovers), an illusionist and the ringleader of the Four Horsemen.
• Mark Ruffalo as Dylan Rhodes, an FBI agent called to investigate the bank theft.
• Woody Harrelson as Merritt McKinley (The Hermit), a mentalist.
• Isla Fisher as Henley Reeves (The High Priestess), an escapist.
• Dave Franco as Jack Wilder (Death), a sleight of hand illusionist.
• Mélanie Laurent as Alma Dray, an Interpol agent who is partnered up with Dylan Rhodes to investigate the bank theft.
• Morgan Freeman as Thaddeus Bradley, an ex-magician who makes money by revealing the secrets behind other magicians' tricks.
• Michael Caine as Arthur Tressler, an insurance magnate and the Four Horsemen's sponsor.
• Michael Kelly as Agent Fuller, an FBI agent and Rhodes' sidekick.
• Common as Agent Evans, Rhodes's supervisor at the FBI.
• José Garcia as Étienne Forcier, the account holder at the Credit Republicain de Paris.
• Elias Koteas (uncredited) as Lionel Shrike, a magician who died of drowning while performing a trick.

Music

Untitled

The official soundtrack was composed by Brian Tyler, and was released on May 28, 2013 for physical purchase and digital download.

No.	Title	Music	Length
1.	"Now You See Me"	Brian Tyler	5:26
2.	"The Four Horsemen"	Brian Tyler	3:34
3.	"Now You See Me (Reprise)"	Brian Tyler	1:49
4.	"Sun (Jesse Marco Remix)"	Two Door Cinema Club	4:45
5.	"Now You Don't"	Brian Tyler	4:21
6.	"Entertainment"	Phoenix	3:38
7.	"Sleight of the Mind"	Brian Tyler	4:45
8.	"Now You See Me (Robert DeLong Remix)"	Brian Tyler	3:40
9.	"Welcome to the Eye"	Brian Tyler	5:49
10.	"Codec"	Zedd	6:01
11.	"Cineramascope (feat. Trombone Shorty and Corey Henry)"	Galactic	3:14
12.	"Now You See Me (Spellbound Remix)"	Brian Tyler	4:19
Total length:			51:21

Release

Critical reception

Now You See Me received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the film's star-studded cast and engaging storyline. 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 it has been suggested that this was intentional, potentially leaving room for a sequel). Based on 149 reviews from film critics, Rotten Tomatoes rated the film 50%, with the site's consensus saying "Now You See Me's thinly sketched characters and scattered plot rely on sleight of hand from the director to distract audiences."

Peter Hammond from Movieline writes, "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."

Audience polls conducted by CinemaScore give the film a rating of an A–.

Box office

Despite the mixed reviews the film has had a successful box office run, placing #2 behind Fast & Furious 6 getting $29,350,389 on its opening weekend from 2,925 theaters. By 30 June, it had grossed double its production budget. The film stayed in the top 10 of the North American box office for six weeks after release. The film has earned $117,723,989 at the North American domestic box office and $206,192,107 internationally, totaling to a $323,916,096 worldwide.

Home media

Now You See Me was released on DVD and Blu-ray on September 3, 2013. The Blu-ray release contains an extended version of the film, featuring 16 additional minutes, bringing the film to a 125-minute runtime. It also contains two featurettes: a behind-the-scenes and a "History of Magic," plus 30 minutes of deleted scenes.

Sequel

On August 9, 2013, after the box office success of the film, Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer officially confirmed that there will be a sequel to the film with production beginning in 2014 for an unspecified release date. Louis Leterrier confirmed he will return to direct the sequel. Jesse Eisenberg confirmed he and the rest of the main cast will be back for the sequel.

External links

• Official website
• Now You See Me at IMDb
• Now You See Me at Rotten Tomatoes
• Now You See Me at Metacritic
• Now You See Me at Box Office Mojo