When the first Now You See Me film was released in 2013, it brought something that viewers did not expect. Intertwining magic into the age-old narrative of heists and bank robberies, the film was able to propel itself to fame, aided by its noteworthy cast. The film acquired such fame and an obsessed fanbase that it was given a sequel, released in 2016. The second installment, similarly to the first, became a massive box office hit and made significant profits. However, the green light for a third movie of the franchise was given the go-ahead before the second even made it to screens, with Now You See Me 3 being announced right before the second film’s release.

Despite its announcement over five years ago, fans have been left hanging to dry. Everything remains shrouded in secrecy and mystery, including a possible plot for the film. From what we have been able to gather for now, here’s all there is to know about a possible third installment of the Now You See Me franchise.

Now You See Me 3: The Plot

Now You See Me
Lionsgate

The plot of Now You See Me 3 remains a huge blank slate. With extremely little information about the movie being released, making guesses as to the possible plot of the third film is not an easy task. From what we know after the first two films, what can be established for certain is that The Eye acts as a controlling force. The previous films have left quite a few loose ends and glaring questions that a third movie could hopefully answer. Fans are itching to get more insight into The Eye and how the secret society functions.

Wherever the storyline may go, if anything is to be predicted from what we’ve seen in the first two movies, it is that the Four Horsemen will have some thrilling tricks up their sleeves, all set to get fans addicted yet again. Talking about the new film with Deadline, Lionsgate Motion Picture Group President Nathan Kahane said:

“The Now You See Me franchise has been built on keeping the audience surprised and guessing. Any great magician knows, you can't keep doing the same tricks. And Eric and his team of illusionists have something special up their sleeve for this new film."

Now You See Me 3: The Cast & Crew

The cast of Now You See Me
Lionsgate

Cast information regarding the movie also remains scarce at the time of writing. When the third movie was first announced, it was expected that most of the original cast, including Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Isla Fischer, Mark Ruffalo, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, and Lizzy Caplan, would make a return. However, given that so many years have passed, the original crew's return isn’t set in stone.

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Benedict Cumberbatch was a new addition to the cast list of the franchise when the film was announced. Many fans expressed the opinion that Cumberbatch would probably play one of the newly introduced magicians on the show. In contrast, others believed he would be a villain or a police officer. However, given the lack of progress on the project and the lapse of time, Cumberbatch’s part in the film may have changed. After all, given his vital role in the MCU and several other movies, it is likely that Cumberbatch won’t have the time he needs to take on an additional part in Now You See Me 3.

The passing of time has not gone unnoticed by the franchise's original cast members. Jesse Eisenberg, who plays the arrogant illusionist Danny Atlas, expressed his concerns about the lack of progress on the film and the effect that it may have on the interest levels of fans. Talking to Coming Soon in March 2020, Eisenberg said:

“I hear occasionally from my friends, the other actors in the movies, that ‘Oh, I’ve heard something’ and I go ‘Oh really? What’d you hear?’, but all we’ve got is ‘Oh, I hear they’re still working on it. I’ve heard nothing, I wonder what the statute of limitations on that kind of stuff is, because maybe if enough time passes, there might be a decreasing level of interest in it.”

Although Neil Widener and Gavin James were initially announced as writers for the film in 2020, Now You See Me 3 reportedly has a new team of creatives behind its production. Eric Warren Singer has signed on to write the script and provide a fresh take on the latest installment. The writer, renowned for his work on projects such as Only the Brave and Top Gun: Maverick, was nominated for an Oscar for his work on American Hustle.

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Nathan Kahane, speaking about the decision to bring on Singer for the movie, said:

“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”.

Bobby Cohen and Alex Kurtzman of Secret Hideout will be teaming up together as producers, while Meredith Wick and Aaron Edmonds will be overseeing the project for Lionsgate. Additionally, the service of Jonathan Bayme and his company Theory 11 were hired on as magic consultants.

Release Date

Now You See Me 1
Lionsgate

A release date for the film is yet to be announced. However, considering the significant amount of time that the film has taken to come to screens, it's highly likely that Lionsgate will do all it can to fast-track the production and release of the film. Given that the film is in the midst of production at the time of writing Now You See Me 3 may finally be released at the end of 2022 or sometime during 2023.