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From left, Dominic Sessa, Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher and Justice Smith co-star in “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t,” which will be released on Nov. 14.
Ruben Fleischer was getting ready to roll out a movie about the theft of a huge, priceless diamond. This was no engagement ring, but a rock so big it looks like someone carved it from a glacier.
Then a real jewel heist went down in broad daylight at The Louvre on Oct. 19, extracting upwards of $100 million in French crown jewels from their perch.
In one scene from the Fleischer-directed “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t,” the diamond thieves — a band of slick magicians — visit The Louvre in Abu Dhabi. “I consider it fortuitous from a marketing perspective, but obviously I want the jewels returned and safe and everything like that,” says Fleischer, who lives in Montclair.
The movie, in theaters Nov. 14 (watch trailer below), is the third installment in the “Now You See Me” franchise, starring regulars Jesse Eisenberg — who grew up in East Brunswick — Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher and Dave Franco as magical teammates The Four Horsemen, plus Oscar winner Morgan Freeman from the original cast. The film also introduces a trio of young magicians played by Justice Smith (“I Saw the TV Glow”), Ariana Greenblatt (“Barbie”) and Dominic Sessa (“The Holdovers”).
DAVE ALLOCCA/STARPIX
RUBEN FLEISCHER
“It was really kind of funny, just because it was organic, that someone suggested that they’d seen Woody Harrelson in Paris simultaneous to that heist,” Fleischer says of the real-life Louvre crossover. “I love that people naturally make a connection between the Horsemen and a big jewel heist.”
The public’s fascination with the real heist speaks to the appeal of a movie like “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t.”
In the movie, the Four Horsemen don’t have to use a furniture lift to reach their intended target, but the notion that they can pull one over on some pretty powerful people and institutions has always been core to the franchise. Scenes where money rains down on a crowd after the magicians fleece some deep-pocketed mark are a fixture of the films.
The latest movie acts as a homecoming for the group last featured in “Now You See Me 2” in 2016. (Fisher, who was absent from that film, was in the first “Now You See Me” in 2013.)
The current chapter sustains the magical group’s Robin Hood ethos, which seems to hit especially well in our billionaire-fueled wealth gap reality, while energizing the quick, fun, jet-setting vibe from the first two films. Tricks and sleights of hand come with comedic lines and gags to keep the action moving toward the big reveal. But when the story gets there, it’s less about the destination than the charm and dazzle of the ride.
Fleischer has become known for action movies, though his first was buoyed by comedy. He made his feature film debut in 2009 with “Zombieland,” the post-apocalyptic jaunt starring Eisenberg, Harrelson, Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin, with a choice appearance by Bill Murray.
KATALIN VERMES/LIONSGATE
Jesse Eisenberg in “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t.”
“Now You See Me: Now You Don’t” — his seventh film, and first in the “Now You See Me” universe — reunites him with Eisenberg and Harrelson, who also co-starred in his 2019 sequel “Zombieland: Double Tap.” “It was a natural fit for me just ‘cause I absolutely love working with Jesse and Woody,” says Fleischer, 51. “In addition to that, I also happen to be a big magic nerd.”
He had always been a fan of the “Now You See Me” films, in which Eisenberg plays illusionist J. Daniel Atlas and Harrelson plays mentalist and hypnotist Merritt McKinney. (Eisenberg also starred in Fleischer’s 2011 film “30 Minutes or Less.”)
Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese, the same pair who wrote the “Zombieland” movies, co-wrote “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t” with Seth Grahame-Smith and Michael Lesslie. “They certainly know how to write for Jesse and Woody,” Fleischer says of Wernick and Reese. “And having done all the Deadpool movies, they’re really great at action and comedy, so it was really exciting to re-team with them and all work together again.”
When it came to the magic, Fleischer says he favored practical illusions over visual effects and “computer tricks.” “I wanted the experience of the film to almost be like going to a live magic show where you’re just constantly astounded by the tricks,” he says. “Some are smaller, close-up magic, and others are bigger real illusions.”
Smith and Greenblatt — who play Charlie and June, two of the young magicians joining the Horsemen — trained with professionals from The Magic Castle in Hollywood. Real illusionists also advised on the tricks in the movie.
Fleischer was most excited about scenes set at a French chateau that is revealed to be a veritable castle of magic. In the film, the chateau, filmed at Nádasdy Castle in Hungary and on a soundstage in Budapest, is the former domain of the magical society known as The Eye.
“I tried to fill it with as many optical illusions and fun visuals as I possibly could,” Fleischer says.
The director, who also helmed “Gangster Squad” (2013) and “Venom” (2018), grew up “obsessed” with MTV music videos. He got his start in the 2000s directing videos for artists like M.I.A. and Dizzee Rascal. “I certainly drew upon that training in conceiving some of the action sequences for this movie that I wanted to be as visual as possible,” he says.
“The mirrored hallway — we call it the infinity staircase — is like an M.C. Escher painting come to life.”
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Ariana Greenblatt and Dave Franco in “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t.”
Then there is the perspective-altering Ames room. Greenblatt’s June — who can nimbly scale buildings — is made to look like a giant compared to a tiny Jack Wilder, played by Franco. (In real life, he is about six inches taller.)
Fleischer is already onboard for the next “Now You See Me” movie. “We’re working on the script now with the hopes of making it next year sometime, if all goes well,” he says. “I guess it’ll depend on the audience’s reception of the film, and if there’s a desire to see more adventures with these characters.”
Fleischer is also in development on a “Jak and Daxter” movie based on the PlayStation video game from Naughty Dog. The same company is behind the game “Uncharted,” which inspired his 2022 film of the same name co-starring Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg.
He filmed “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t” in Budapest, Antwerp and Abu Dhabi. The locations mirror the global scope of the story, which goes from New York to South Africa and The United Arab Emirates.
But Fleischer says he is “desperate” to film a movie at home in New Jersey. “I’m just eager to shoot something here, which I have yet to do,” he says. “It was not by design that we moved here and that the business should follow us. But, you know, I’m not complaining.”
Jersey’s film and TV production boom is one that even those who aren’t in the business of Hollywood can’t help but notice. “The most exciting thing is this kind of unexpected new era of filmmaking in New Jersey, where it really feels like there’s more production trucks on the street here than I see when I’m in L.A.,” Fleischer says.
KATALIN VERMES/LIONSGATE
RUBEN FLEISCHER
He grew up in Washington, D.C., and lived in Los Angeles for 23 years. The pandemic prompted his move to Jersey.
“My wife (producer, podcaster and former publicist Holly Shakoor Fleischer, who hails from Wayne) and I didn’t see our parents for over a year,” he says. “We’ve always enjoyed coming back to the East Coast, and we have two young girls, and the pandemic allowed us a moment to kind of stop and evaluate and prioritize.”
They set a course for Montclair, where they now live in a 23-room Tudor-style mansion on grounds designed by the Olmsted brothers. (The family’s take on the 1909 home was featured in Architectural Digest last year.)
“Growing up on the East Coast really informed both who my wife and I are as people and our values and our network of friends and family that is all out here,” Fleischer says. “So it was an exciting thing to move back east, and being close to New York City was definitely a priority for me.”
The director particularly enjoys the local pizza and bagels as well as hiking at South Mountain and Eagle Rock reservations. “I feel like Montclair and New Jersey as a whole are just kind of this idyllic place,” he says. “I call where we live suburban paradise. It’s a real community of people that are bound together. Everyone who moves here moves here for similar reasons — focus on family and community and schools and everything else.”
The Four Horsemen of “Now You See Me” — now seven — fashion themselves as magicians of the people. While the core members are celebrities in their own right, the payoffs of their big tricks have often resulted in a tangible redistribution of money. “They’ve always been stealing from these billionaires,” Fleischer says. “And in addition to taking some for themselves, they spread the wealth around to their audiences … So it was really fun to be able to incorporate that message into this film, where, in this current economic climate, I feel like the rich keep getting richer.”
KATALIN VERMES/LIONSGATE
From left, Justice Smith, Ariana Greenblatt, Dominic Sessa, Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher and Dave Franco in “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t.”
Early in the movie, there is a Brooklyn-set scene in which the youngest magicians hustle some crypto bros. But the main villain is Veronika Vanderberg, the corrupt South African behind The Heart Diamond. The Horsemen assemble like The Avengers or The X-Men, using their magic superpowers to thwart Vanderberg (played by Rosamund Pike, who really works a patrician air).
“The magic that exists between the chemistry of the cast is really maybe the biggest magic of it all,” Fleischer says. “That rapport, that dynamic, that banter between them is part of why I think the first films are so beloved … What gets me excited about going to make another one is this incredible cast that we’ve assembled.”
Sessa, who made his debut in the Oscar-winning 2023 movie “The Holdovers,” is 23, but has a screen presence beyond his years. Here, the willowy actor, who was born in Cherry Hill and grew up in Egg Harbor Township and Ocean City, plays the whimsically named Bosco Leroy, an actor-turned-magician.
The movie has him impersonate a celebrity photographer and go into full action-hero mode driving a race car — a magical development for someone who watched the “Now You See Me” films as a kid.
“He’s a true natural,” Fleischer says of Sessa, who also stars as the young Anthony Bourdain in the upcoming “Tony” biopic. “He just effortlessly kind of falls into his character and brings so much to it … he’s got the comedy. I mean, he was only, I think, 21, and he was going opposite Morgan Freeman and Woody Harrelson and all the rest of the cast and he just completely holds his own … I think this was certainly the biggest movie he’s ever done.”
Sessa trained over Zoom with magician Ben Seidman in the run-up to the movie — something Fleischer says is reflected in his character’s precision and showmanship. “He just really brought it and he crushed,” the director says. “I’m really, really proud of him.”
For information, visit nowyouseeme.movie.
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