Now You See Me 3 Announced by Lionsgate

Lionsgate announced this week that they have greenlit a third installment in the Now You See Me franchise. From Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and Men in Black writer Ed Solomon and The Punisher director Boaz Yakin, the Now You See Me movies are a modern rarity: they have a relatively modest budget, and can be big hits without earning an enormous amount of money. The first movie, for instance, cost a reported $75 million, and earned a little over $350 million at the box office. To date, the first two Now You See Me movies have brought in almost $700 million at the global box office -- a feat that's increasingly rare for movies that aren't based on an existing property. 

The series centers on an Ocean's 11-style group of mastermind criminals...with the twist that Now You See Me's (anti-)heroes use sleight of hand and stage magic. Back in 2020, the studio said American Hustle writer Eric Warren Singer would tackle the third installment in the Now You See Me franchise for Lionsgate, which was being described as a "fresh take" on the series. In an investor call yesterday, Lionsgate's Motion Picture Group Chair Joe Drake characterized it as a "reimagining," but by now, Singer has moved on, with Venom director Ruben Fleischer is in the driver's seat.

"We reimagined Now You See Me with Ruben Fleischer, who is an absolute master at shepherding franchises," Drake told investors. "If you think he did Venom and Uncharted, couldn't be happier about that. That's going to start in the spring."

The existing films included actors like Jesse Eisenberg, Daniel Radcliffe, Woody Harrelson, Lizzy Caplan, Isla Fisher, Mark Ruffalo, and Morgan Freeman. At this point there's no casting in place for the third installment and that "fresh take" verbage may indicate they aren't bringing back most or all of the originals, although initial reports suggest that it leaves the door open. It also isn't clear whether Fleischer will write himself or whether the original creative team will come back to the franchise.

"Eric has always been fascinated with the fine art of deception and illusion in all of its forms and he came to us with a great story that takes the mythology of Now You See Me and pushes The Four Horsemen to a whole new level with our key returning cast and new characters," said Nathan Kahane, president of the Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, back in 2020.