Now You See Me 3 Director Ruben Fleischer Doubles Down on Practical Magic, Teases a Fourth Chapter

Now You See Me: Now You Don't is out to watch at home, and director Ruben Fleischer just walked through how they pulled off the new magic heist with a lot more sweat and sawdust than CGI. He also teased where the next one is headed. Short version: if you like the goofy, twisty vibe of this series, this one was made with you in mind.

The setup

The original Four Horsemen are back: Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, and Isla Fisher. They link up with a fresh trio of illusionists played by Justice Smith, Dominic Sessa, and Ariana Greenblatt for a bigger, more international job. The target is Veronika Vanderberg, a very wealthy diamond heiress (Rosamund Pike) with messy ties to arms dealers, traffickers, and warlords. Morgan Freeman returns as Thaddeus to help guide the combined crew as they try to outmaneuver a villain who is sharp enough to see through the usual tricks.

Lionsgate says this one leans hard on the franchise staples: reveals within reveals, the Horses squabbling then syncing up, and some head-turning stagecraft. Based on how they built it, that is not just marketing fluff.

Built to fool your eyes, not the computer

Fleischer came in as a legit fan and wanted to steer the series away from digital sleight of hand and back toward tricks you can film in real space. The crown jewel is a sprawling chateau sequence stuffed with physical gags and perspective weirdness, and he lights up talking about it. A few highlights:

• Ames room, but fancy: Instead of the usual bare box, they built a 19th-century-style room where the "squares" are actually trapezoids. Because the geometry is all wrong on purpose, every molding and panel had to be custom 3D printed to match the skewed perspective. The result: one person looks giant and another looks tiny in the same frame, and it all plays in camera.
• Infinity staircase: A mirrored labyrinth for Woody Harrelson designed to feel like an M.C. Escher painting. They staged shots where you think you are watching a reflection, then pan to reveal the real Woody entering. Apparently even the crew got disoriented walking into it, and Harrelson's brain just about short-circuited the first time he stepped inside.
• Spinning corridor: A classic rotating hallway gag straight out of the old Fred Astaire toolbox, upgraded for an action beat. It's a director flex moment he clearly relished.
• Mirror hallway: We have seen mirror mazes before, but the team shot directly into mirrors with the confidence that they could digitally scrub the camera out of the reflections later. Importantly, that cleanup was the only visual effects work in these mirror setups. No added magic, just erasing the camera operator.

The fan running the show

Fleischer is honest about making this one as a fan first. He wanted the tone and the characters from the first two films intact, but he also wanted to fix a few things that bugged him. Case in point: the switch from Isla Fisher's Henley in the first movie to Lizzy Caplan's Lula in the second with barely a nod to why. His mission this time was to "make it all right" and bring both women into the story.

He also shaped the script to be, in his words, the most fun version of a Now You See Me movie: big twists, performances by actors who know how to play with each other, laughs, suspense, action, and actual magic. After a 10-year wait, he wanted the new one to feel like a proper payoff.

"I made this movie for the fans."

Yes, that Lizzy Caplan moment was kept secret

If you were surprised when Caplan showed up, that was the plan. She was kept out of the trailers and ads, and the team asked early audiences to keep the reveal quiet. Fleischer has practice here: he points to the Bill Murray cameo in Zombieland and how carefully they protected that gag. Same playbook this time, and he is thrilled fans got to experience the pop in the room. Again, bringing both Henley and Lula into the mix was important to him, not just a stunt.

Rosamund Pike is having the time of her life

Pike leans all the way into Veronika's villainy, in that fun "love to hate her" way the franchise thrives on. She will not be in the next installment, which is a shame because everyone apparently had a blast working together. The production hopped from Budapest to Abu Dhabi, the original cast clicked back into rhythm, and the three newcomers fit right in.

So about Now You See Me 4

Fleischer is already at work on it and sounds energized. The plan is to build on what they just set up and push it further. He says the cast chemistry is there, the toys are there, and now they get to go bigger.

Now You See Me: Now You Don't is available to watch at home from Lionsgate.