'Now You See Me: Now You Don't' Digital Release Interview

Moviefone speaks with Ruben Fleischer about 'Now You See Me: Now You Don't' Digital. "it was important to me that we do everything as practical as possible."

(L to R) Dave Franco as Jack Wilder, Jesse Eisenberg as Daniel Atlas, and Isla Fisher as Henley Reeves in 'Now You See Me: Now You Don’t'. Photo: Katalin Vermes.

Available on premium digital from Lionsgate December 16th is the box office hit ‘Now You See Me: Now You Don’t’, which is the third film in the popular franchise and was directed by Ruben Fleischer (‘Venom’).

The movie stars returning cast members Jesse Eisenberg (‘Zombieland’), Woody Harrelson (‘Zombieland: Double Tap’), Dave Franco (‘Together’), Isla Fisher (‘Rango’), Lizzy Caplan (‘Cloverfield’), and Morgan Freeman (‘The Dark Knight’), as well as new cast members Justice Smith ('Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’), Dominic Sessa (‘The Holdovers’), Ariana Greenblatt (‘Barbie’), and Rosamund Pike ('Saltburn’).

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with director Ruben Fleischer about his work on 'Now You See Me: Now You Don't', joining the franchise, reuniting with his ‘Zombieland’ actors Jesse Eisenberg and Woody Harrelson, Rosamund Pike’s hilarious performance, the new cast members, creating the illusions on screen, and if he would return to helm a fourth movie.

Related Article: Movie Review: 'Now You See Me: Now You Don't'

'Now You See Me: Now You Don't' director Ruben Fleischer.

Moviefone: To begin with, as a filmmaker, can you talk about the challenges of joining a successful series to direct the third installment of a franchise?

Ruben Fleisher: I approach this movie as a fan of the franchise. I love the first two movies. So, for me, the pressure of trying to make it as good as the previous two was so much self-imposed because I didn't want to disappoint my fellow fans of the franchise. So, I did everything in my power to carry on the spirit of the original and clean up some of the things that happened in the past. For example, Henley (Isla Fisher) was in the first movie and then was replaced by Lulu (Lizzy Caplan) without much explanation. So, it was important to me that both be in the film, just because as a fan, I wanted to see those two women together, because they're both so great. So, just carrying forward all the magic, all the fun, the banter, the relationships and everything else. So, the big challenge was just feeling the pressure not to disappoint fans.

(L to R) Justice Smith as Charlie, Jesse Eisenberg as Daniel Atlas, and Woody Harrelson as Merrit McKinney in 'Now You See Me: Now You Don't'. Photo Credit: Katalin Vermes.

MF: Did it help that you already had a good working relationship with Jesse Eisenberg and Woody Harrelson from making the ‘Zombieland’ movies?

RF: I was lucky because I had a pre-existing relationship with Woody and Jesse, so I had a familiarity and a comfort level and that's what drew me to the project in the first place. I was lucky to have the help of two longtime collaborators to make sure that we did our best work. This was my fourth movie with each of them. We all did the two ‘Zombieland’ movies together and then Jesse and I did ‘30 minutes or Less’ and Woody was in the tease at the end of ‘Venom’. But I love working with those two guys, and I also knew that they loved working with the rest of the cast. I was a huge fan of Dave Franco, Isla Fisher and Lizzie Caplan. So, for me, it was just an opportunity to work with more actors that I really love, but I had also heard from Jesse and Woody about what a great dynamic everybody had on set and how they felt like a family among themselves. So, I was just happy to join the family.

Rosamund Pike as Veronika in 'Now You See Me: Now You Don’t'. Photo Credit: Katalin Vermes.

MF: Actress Rosmund Pike gives a fantastic performance in the movie. Can you talk about casting and working with her?

RF: I have been a fan of hers for a long time. I mean, she's so good going back to ‘Die Another Day’ or ‘Gone Girl’, but it was really seeing her recently in ‘Saltburn’, where I felt like she just stole every scene that she was in, and she was so funny. In addition to being a challenging character, I think movies to a degree are only as good as the villains. You need someone formidable, and especially when you have such a strong ensemble as we have, with such incredible actors, you need someone who feels equally weighted in terms of screen presence, threat, charisma and everything that makes a great movie character. So, Rosamund's somebody who, beyond her dramatic ability, beyond her obvious beauty, she just tends to make her characters delicious and more than what's expected. So, it was exciting for me to. She brought so much to it. She has an incredible, natural aptitude for accents, and the South African accent is very specific and challenging. I'm so proud of the fact that when South Africans have watched the movie, and I've talked to them about it, they have told me they've never heard a non-South African have such a perfect accent as that. So that was really gratifying to learn. But she's just got this inherent intelligence. She seems like she's from this lofted heiress status, and she seems smart and like she could be dangerous or somebody not to mess with. So, it was a great experience from beginning to end working with her.

(L to R) Dominic Sessa as Bosco, Justice Smith as Charlie, and Ariana Greenblatt as June in 'Now You See Me: Now You Don’t'. Photo: Courtesy of Lionsgate.

MF: Can you talk about bringing in new cast members like Justice Smith, Dominic Sessa and Ariana Greenblatt and having them mix it up with the returning cast?

RF: That was also a great challenge just because when you have such beloved, established actors, and you got to find, younger, less established actors who you expect to be as compelling and charismatic, so they just don't get completely blown away by these movie stars. It’s challenging, but for all three of them, I had been fans of their work. With Dominic, ‘The Holdovers’ was his first movie, but he was so compelling in it. I think it was an incredible launch for his career. But I was proud to have cast him in his first ever studio movie, and I think he more than performed at a level we needed in terms of just being funny and he turned out to be good with both the magic and the action. He’s just got this cool kind of swag. Justice is somebody who we've all seen whether it's ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ or the ‘Jurassic World’ movies, but also super cool indies as well. He's always interesting and so I've been a fan, and it was exciting to get to cast him. Then Ariana was just a force of nature. She was 16 when she first came to Budapest and celebrated her 17th birthday while we were there. So, she was literally a child relative to these adults, and she's just so wise beyond her years, so capable physically, obviously a great actress and just really brought so much cool to June that she just inherently has as a person. Casting's one of my favorite parts of the process and I think if you look at the original ‘Zombieland’ or other movies I made, casting seems to be a signature of the films just discovering people who have gone on to great things. Not to say I discovered these people, but just giving them maybe perhaps a bigger platform. I think they all have exceeded beyond my wildest hopes and dreams, and I think they're just so compelling as a triad.

(L to R) Dominic Sessa as Bosco, Jesse Eisenberg as Daniel Atlas, Isla Fisher as Henley Reeves, and Justice Smith as Charlie in 'Now You See Me: Now You Don’t'. Photo Credit: Katalin Vermes.

MF: Can you talk about designing the illusions for the film and how you wanted them to look on screen?

RF: The first two movies are terrific, and I love them, but there were moments as a fan where I felt like they relied perhaps a little too heavily on VFX or CGI. So, it was very important to me for our movie that we do everything as practical as possible and do everything as much in cameras as possible. One of the things I'm most proud of is that all those illusion rooms that take place in the château are all physical sets that we built. So, whether it was the upside-down room where we literally spun a room upside down, which is a Hollywood convention going back to Fred Astaire dancing on the ceiling. Or it's the Ames room, which we probably all seen versions of in various museums of Illusion throughout the world, where one person's very big and one person's very small on the other side of frame. We built that, and that was all in camera and practical, and that was just so cool to experience when you walk to that room. It really did look like a normal room and then as soon as you walk in, the proportions shift. So, that was just neat and to be able to create something like that with that level of detail. The infinity staircase, which is what we call the room that Woody was in with all the mirrors going in a million different directions. I talked to the production designer about trying to figure out how we could do a practical version of M.C. Escher’s painting, where the stairs are going in all different directions and you're not quite sure what's up and down or anything else. So, through a trial and error, we arrived at the design for that room, which kind of does provide that feeling of you don't know which way is up or down and you don't know which reflections are real and which is Woody. Then there was a hall of mirrors, which we've seen in movies before, but that was all in camera. Truthfully, the only VFX effects in any of these environments was just when there were mirrors. We had to paint out the camera because he inherently shot his own reflection, but we put him in a skintight form fitting blue screen suit. So, it was easy to find him in all the reflections, and then we could just erase him. But I'm proud of how we committed to this concept of it having to be as practical as we could make it, and then holding true to it, and not ultimately bailing or relying on VFX, which is always a possibility.

(L to R) Woody Harrelson as Merrit McKinney, Jesse Eisenberg as Daniel Atlas, Dominic Sessa as Bosco, Dave Franco as Jack Wilder, Justice Smith as Charlie, Isla Fisher as Henley Reeves, and Ariana Greenblatt as June in 'Now You See Me, Now You Don’t'. Photo Credit: Katalin Vermes.

MF: Finally, the ending of the film hints at more adventures for the main characters, is returning for a ‘'Now You See Me 4’ something you would be interested in doing?

RF: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, that's why we left it off on that ellipsis of more potential adventures to go on. I'm thrilled with the reaction that the audience has had to the film, and I'd be absolutely thrilled to go back into this world with these actors and devise a new magical adventure for them to go on. So, fingers crossed.

(L to R) Justice Smith as Charlie, Ariana Greenblatt as June, Dominic Sessa as Bosco, Jesse Eisenberg as Daniel Atlas, Isla Fisher as Henley Reeves, and Dave Franco as Jack Wilder in 'Now You See Me: Now You Don’t'. Photo Credit: Katalin Vermes.

What is the plot of 'Now You See Me: Now You Don't'?

The original Four Horsemen (Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher and Dave Franco) reunite with a new generation of illusionists to take on powerful diamond heiress Veronika Vanderberg (Rosamund Pike), who leads a criminal empire built on money laundering and trafficking. The new and old magicians must overcome their differences to work together on their most ambitious heist yet.