Are you prepared to witness the greatest magic trick you’ve ever seen in your life?
Bold words, but that is exactly what has been promised to us by the trailers from the upcoming magic-heist sequel film “Now You See Me 2”. Once again, the 4 horsemen and their secret head honcho are out on a global mission to ruin the plans of their nemesis Thaddeus Bradley, who is currently behind bars and thirsty for revenge.
The official synopsis is as follows:
“The Four Horsemen return for a second mind-bending adventure, elevating the limits of stage illusion to new heights and taking them around the globe. One year after outwitting the FBI and winning the public’s adulation with their Robin Hood-style magic spectacles, the illusionists resurface for a comeback performance in hopes of exposing the unethical practices of a tech magnate.
The man behind their vanishing act is none other than Walter Mabry, a tech prodigy who threatens the Horsemen into pulling off their most impossible heist yet. Their only hope is to perform one last unprecedented stunt to clear their names and reveal the mastermind behind it all.”
Besides more action sequences to wow us and the voice of god (Morgan Freeman) narrating in the background, there’s plenty to get excited about “Now You See Me 2”. Here are some fun facts you might not have known about the movie and its cast members:
1. The Four Horsemen 2.0
In case you need some reminding, the Four Horsemen (not to be confused with Apocalypse’s Four Horsemen) is a group of illusionists/magicians who steal from the rich and corrupted, and hand the stolen money over to their adoring audience.
Noticeably missing from quartet is Isla Fisher’s Henley but Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco are back reprising their respective roles with newcomer Lizzy Caplan rounding out the foursome. Fisher was pregnant at the time of production and had to bow out.
2. Lizzy Caplan & her bag of tricks
In preparation for her role, Caplan decided to put on her investigative hat and track down female magicians. Unfortunately, the experience left her unimpressed. “There are so few of them: Not only are their numbers small, but the vast majority of them have to incorporate this overly sexualized thing, which is really strange,” she recalled.
“So they’re in particularly skimpy outfits and they have, like, sex-themed magic shows. I saw this one girl — she’s the snake babe and she just has snakes, and she’s kind of seductive with the snake. I was like, ‘Come on, girl!’ More power to her, but also there’s got to be something else. You don’t have to be this sex kitten to be a magician,” she told Refinery 29.
The actress then added, “Girls in general do a lot of magic tricks — what we wake up looking like and what we walk out the door looking like is a bit of a magic trick, one that I oftentimes resent.”
3. Harry Potter will be doing magic!
Well, actually that’s not true. Daniel Radcliffe plays a tech savvy magnate, Walter Mabry. Despite being the only one with wizard training from Hogwarts, Radcliffe’s Walter is the one with the worst magic skills. In fact, the actor even says his character is “anti-magic”!
Walter is the person responsible for assembling The Four Horsemen, or to be more precise, blackmails them into helping him steal an item that he claims is “the key to every computer system on the planet”.
4. Take a closer look
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As part of the promotions for “Now You See Me 2”, a #LookCloser campaign was launch where “The Eye (the movie’s magical secret society) has hidden riddles and clues throughout the film’s promotional materials”. Fans with an eye for detail were required to closely observe posters, trailers, and social media posts to spot clues.
According to A List Daily, “once a clue has been solved, the answer can be entered on the campaign’s website to unlock exclusive content like cast shout-outs and behind-the-scenes 360-degree videos. Perceptive and clever participants were also entered into a sweepstakes to win a BMW F800R motorcycle, just like the one in the movie.”
5. Behold, the hall of mirrors
Aside from solving clues and winning a lucrative prize, the interactive website includes a magical funhouse mirror sequence. Upon scrolling the mouse wheel, the mirror will rotate, featuring different characters from the movie.
Remember the London rain scene from the trailer, where countless droplets are frozen in midair? The water droplets will start “falling upward” as viewers continue to scroll. The last pitstop will be a Chinese magic shop where vintage magic posters of the main cast are seen floating about.
6. A record collaboration for Morgan Freeman & Michael Caine
“Now You See Me 2” will be the 6th time Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine have appeared in the same movie. Their previous films together include Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogies, “A History Of Us”, and “Now You See Me”. The 2 respected actors are about to collaborate for the 7th time on their upcoming movie “Going In Style”.
7. Comic book & superhero movies connection of the actors
Most of the actors in the movie have starred in blockbusters films based on comic books. As aforementioned, both Freeman and Caine have appeared in “Batman Begins” (2005), “The Dark Knight” (2008), and “The Dark Knight Rises” (2012). Mark Ruffalo was last seen playing The Hulk aka Bruce Banner in Marvel’s “Avengers: Age Of Ultron”, while Jessie Eisenberg was recently seen as the villainous Lex Luthor in “Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice“.
8. Now you see me..now you don’t!
A 3rd instalment for “Now You See Me ” is already in the works. The announcement was made last year by Jon Feltheimer, CEO of the production studio. Lionsgate Entertainment was so confident in their “Now You See Me” franchise that “we’ve already begun early planning for “Now You See Me 3″.″
Bonus Fun Fact:
9. Jay Chou premiered a fun music video for the movie
Not to be overshadowed by the Four Horsemen, Asian pop superstar, Jay Chou (周杰倫) also shows off some cool moves – whether it’s his slick dance moves, card tricks, or the fact he gets to channel his inner Aladdin with his magic lamp while on magic carpet. Wanna find the “key”? Just do as the singer says and follow his beat ;)
Get ready to fall for the same trick twice when “Now You See Me 2” hits local theatres on 16th June 2016.
Sources: Refinery 29, A List Daily, MDFT Biz, Screen Rant.
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