Now You See Me 2 (2016)
- Before Jesse Eisenberg was cast, several major A-list stars turned down the lead role because they felt the script was too risky.
- The original script for Now You See Me 2 was written over a decade before production finally began in 2016.
- Many of the practical effects used in the climax were achieved without any CGI.
Now You See Me 2 is a 2016 American heist comedy thriller directed by Jon M. Chu, the sequel to the 2013 original. The Four Horsemen return β with Lizzy Caplan replacing Isla Fisher alongside Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, and Dave Franco β emerging from hiding to expose a corrupt tech magnate, only to be outsmarted and forced to steal a powerful data-mining device for a tech prodigy played by Daniel Radcliffe.
The film expanded the franchise's magic-as-heist concept to a global scale, with sequences set in Macau and London. The playing card pass-around scene, in which the Horsemen covertly transfer a computer chip disguised as a playing card through an elaborate security checkpoint, was a highlight of inventive choreography. Daniel Radcliffe's villainous turn as a privileged tech heir seeking the approval of his imprisoned father provided an entertaining antagonist.
The film earned $334 million worldwide on a $90 million budget.
