“Top Gun: Maverick” writer Eric Warren Singer will give a fresh take on Lionsgate’s magic heist franchise “Now You See Me,” introducing new characters to lead the third installment. Lionsgate Motion Picture Group president Nathan Kahane and Erin Westerman, president of motion picture production for the studio, announced the news Tuesday.
“Now You See Me 3” is based on Singer’s new idea which is intended to capture the spirit of the original two films, but with new characters — which have not yet been cast. However, he’ll create opportunities for the original cast to reprise their roles.
Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco and Morgan Freeman starred in the previous two films, which opened in 2013 and 2016 and together grossed $687 million worldwide.
Jonathan Bayme and his company Theory 11 will serve as a magic consultant to the filmmakers. Bobby Cohen and Alex Kurtzman of Secret Hideout, who produced the first two films, are teaming up again to produce the third film. Meredith Wieck and Aaron Edmonds will oversee the project for Lionsgate.
“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,” 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.”
Singer is an Oscar nominee for “American Hustle,” and he most recently wrote the sequel “Top Gun: Maverick” with Tom Cruise reprising his role from the original blockbuster. He is represented by Mark Gochman at Gochman Law Group.
Dan Freedman and Giselle Weber oversaw legal for the studio.