Now You See Me: Now You Don’t (2025)

[trappedslider]

Could be good, I see Fisher is back

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

This series still doesn't seem to know whether it's about stage magic, actual magic, or some CGI mishmash of the two.

Also, if that "Open Sesame" bit is one of the best jokes in the film, then yikes.

 

[Gradine]

I love that this franchise continues to plow forward based entirely on how promising the premise sounds, because it certainly couldn't be because of their actual quality.

At least they're finally using "Now You Don't", which should have been the title of the second movie, but clever writing has never been this franchise's strong point, beyond the fact that this franchise doesn't have any strong points.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

this franchise doesn't have any strong points.

Well, it's got Ilsa Fisher.

 

[Gradine]

Well, it's got Ilsa Fisher.

I'm more of a Lizzy Caplan gal myself, but then, that's probably surprising to exactly nobody.

Still, "Oceans Eleven with stage magicians" should've been foolproof. Should've been...

 

[payn]

So… people want more of this?

 

[Ruin Explorer]

So… people want more of this?

You wouldn't think so, right?

I've never heard anyone comment positively about either of the other two. The first one I saw most (all? I forget) of and it was terrible (despite liking most of the actors in it), like not even intriguing.

But...

Somehow both of them grossed over $300m worldwide on "moderate to high" budgets - i.e. $75m to $120m. So technically they made money? Maybe not a crazy amount but positive cashflow.

I am looking forward to when the podcast Kill James Bond gets to these movies as part of their "Heist season" (assuming they do, and I pray they do), though, so there's that!

This series still doesn't seem to know whether it's about stage magic, actual magic, or some CGI mishmash of the two.

Yes that's what is very bizarre. I was expecting there to be like a twist in the first one where at least one of them was like, an actual wizard, but that didn't happen.

 

[TiQuinn]

Somehow both of them grossed over $300m worldwide on "moderate to high" budgets - i.e. $75m to $120m. So technically they made money? Maybe not a crazy amount but positive cashflow.

They all seem to do about as well as the Ocean's Eleven movies (which I thought were a class better than these). Honestly, this just feels like some producer saying "We need a heist movie, and we need X budget", and it doesn't need too much more thought than that.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

They all seem to do about as well as the Ocean's Eleven movies (which I thought were a class better than these). Honestly, this just feels like some producer saying "We need a heist movie, and we need X budget", and it doesn't need too much more thought than that.

Yeah maybe this is a demonstration that star power is still a thing, but you need to assemble a whole crew of low-A through high-C tier actors and combine it with an anodyne and inoffensive premise and simple "luxury"-oriented visual style to make it work? That's essentially what Ocean's Eleven did.

(Ocean's Eight, the all-female version also worked, making $300m on a $70m budget with an identical formula. But it had James Corden in it so must be disregarded, ugh. Why not pick literally any other British actor?)

 

[payn]

Yeah maybe this is a demonstration that star power is still a thing, but you need to assemble a whole crew of low-A through high-C tier actors and combine it with an anodyne and inoffensive premise and simple "luxury"-oriented visual style to make it work? That's essentially what Ocean's Eleven did.

(Ocean's Eight, the all-female version also worked, making $300m on a $70m budget with an identical formula. But it had James Corden in it so must be disregarded, ugh. Why not pick literally any other British actor?)