Move Over Lookalikes: Jesse Eisenberg Turns Now You See Me 3 Hype Into Pop-Up Magic Shows
The con is back on: Now You See Me: Now You Don’t materializes in theaters November 14, promising bigger tricks, bolder heists, and blink-and-you-miss-’em twists.
Jesse Eisenberg pulled a very on-brand stunt in New York: he showed up, did a card trick in the park, and turned it into free tickets to the first-ever screening of Now You See Me: Now You Don't. Not a bad Saturday plan.
The setup
Over the past week, mysterious flyers started popping up around the city teasing a small magic show: come see "my friend Jesse" do a trick at 1pm in Tompkins Square Park on Saturday, October 25. Fans of the franchise connected the dots pretty fast. That Jesse is Jesse Eisenberg, who plays showman-thief J. Daniel Atlas in the Now You See Me movies.
The trick (and the twist)
A short clip posted online shows Eisenberg running a very classic bit — the old find-your-card routine — and finishing it by plucking the card from a woman's jacket. Yes, the crowd ate it up.
"Is this your card?"
Then he flipped the trick into a giveaway: he told the crowd that anyone who was handed a playing card from his deck could use it as their ticket to an early screening of Now You See Me: Now You Don't. A post making the rounds on October 27 framed it even bigger — that he gave the onlookers tickets to the first-ever screening. Either way, the gist is the same: if you were there and got a card, you scored a free seat.
What movie are we talking about?
Now You See Me: Now You Don't is the third entry in the magician-heist series and is directed by Ruben Fleischer. It's also Fleischer's fourth time teaming with Eisenberg and Woody Harrelson after first linking up on the horror-comedy Zombieland.
- Title: Now You See Me: Now You Don't (third installment)
- Director: Ruben Fleischer (fourth collaboration with Jesse Eisenberg and Woody Harrelson)
- Returning cast: Dave Franco, Isla Fisher, Morgan Freeman
- New to the franchise: Justice Smith, Dominic Sessa, Ariana Greenblatt, Rosamund Pike (she's the main villain this time)
- Theaters: November 14, 2025
The bottom line
Posters go up, a crowd gathers, Eisenberg asks the magic words, and suddenly a bunch of New Yorkers are walking away with invites to the first screening. Simple, clever, and very on theme for a series that lives on misdirection and showmanship.