Last year’s magician caper Now You See Me was either one of those movies you really liked or really didn’t. I found myself in the latter category because of that ending, but when a movie without much advance buzz makes $350 million and somehow keeps pulling in more and more throughout a highly competitive summer, you bet that a sequel’s going to get ordered up. And though Now You See Me 2 was a no-brainer as soon as those initial box office numbers came in, we have heard surprisingly little about its progress so far. That’s changing today, with news that Jon M. Chu is Summit Entertainment’s first choice to direct.
Chu is coming off Jem and the Holograms for Blumhouse and has directed a number of flashy, big-budget tentpoles throughout his career. His films include three Step Up sequels, two Justin Bieber documentaries and G.I. Joe: Retaliation. On paper, he seems like a fine choice to direct Now You See Me 2.
Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco and Mark Ruffalo are all expected to reprise their roles in the sequel, though the first film’s director Louis Leterrier shied away from directing again due to other projects. However, we have yet to hear about a script for Now You See Me 2, so Chu’s name being tossed around may not mean that we’ll see the film anytime soon. Dave Franco recently told us that a script has not yet been written, and the ending of the first film didn’t exactly allow for an easy continuation of the story.
Regardless, I’m sure that someone somewhere will find an angle that will allow Now You See Me 2 to happen. When a movie makes as much money as that one did, a sequel is pretty much inevitable, whether or not the story is really conducive to a follow-up.
We’ll be sure to keep you posted as more on Now You See Me 2 emerges.