'Now You See Me 3' Will Now Be Written By 'American Hustle' Writer, Aims To Blend New And Original Casts

Lionsgate first announced Now You See Me 3 way back in 2015, a year before the second movie even hit theaters. But the studio has never given up on the magic-infused heist franchise, and now they've conjured up a writer with a brand new take on the material: Eric Warren Singer, who was nominated for an Oscar for writing American Hustle and who also has a credit on Paramount's upcoming Top Gun: Maverick.

Get the details of the revamped Now You See Me 3 below.

The previous two films have starred Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco, and Morgan Freeman, and according to a press release from Lionsgate, the studio says "Singer's fresh take will capture the fun, magic, and spirit of the original, introducing new characters into the world while also creating opportunities for the original cast to reprise their roles." No cast has signed on yet, but it sounds like the plan is to create a sort of legacyquel scenario, perhaps one in which the OG cast members can pass the baton to a different group of magic-loving thieves.

The Now You See Me movies have fans, of course, but this isn't a mega-franchise we're talking about: the first two films combined only made $687 million worldwide. Arguably, the franchise is primarily remembered for the way it used CG to enhance its characters' magic tricks and illusions – which is fine, but also a bit of a shame considering the potential to limit CG and really blow audiences' minds with more "real" magic.

"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," said Nathan Kahane, President of the Lionsgate Motion Picture Group. "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."

Here's hoping Jonathan Bayme and his team at Theory 11, who are serving as the magic consultants on this film, can also inject the illusions with a more tactile feeling this time around (a tough task when translated through film, but something I personally feel the franchise sorely needs). Bobby Cohen and Alex Kurtzman will produce for their Secret Hideout production company. Jon M. Chu, who directed the second movie, was hired to return for Now You See Me 3 back in 2016, but his career has blown up in the years since, so it's unclear if he's still on board.