Now You See Me 2

I have a dream job. What could be better than watching and talking about movies for a living? Nothing; the answer is nothing. But lately my job has been a lot less fun than normal, because the movies themselves have been a lot less fun. Quite frankly, this summer sucks.

The 2016 summer box office hit another speed bump this week as two major releases — a sequel and a potential franchise-starter — opened to disappointing numbers. However, it wasn’t all doom and gloom. Despite the poor starts for Warcraft and Now You See Me 2, The Conjuring 2 opened at number one with the kind of debut that proves modestly budgeted horror movies with R ratings still have a place in the blockbuster months.

In the ‘Now You See Me’ movies, the power of hypnosis is the Four Horsemen’s most valuable magic trick. In the first movie the group of magicians used it to pull of a bank heist, and in the new sequel it becomes an ever more useful tool.

Oh boy, another sequel.

In ‘Now You See Me 2' the Four Horsemen are back with a brand new member. Lizzy Caplan stars as Lula, the newest magician to join the team known for their elaborate heists and public spectacles.

When you have a chance to sit down with Marty Hart and the Hulk for a three minute interview, it’s difficult to decide what to cram into such a short amount time. But even well-planned questions won’t turn out as expected when talking to Woody Harrleson and Mark Ruffalo; these two are going to talk about whatever they want, including your eye color.

As is now customary for big-budget studio releases, Now You See Me 2 has been deemed a smashing success two months ahead of its June 10 release date, and presiding studio Lionsgate has already laid plans for further expansion. Confident that the sequel will reproduce the fabulous box-office success of the original (Now You See Me turned around a handsome $117 million domestic gross on its hefty $7

Magicians: they’re no longer just people who remind of you of the good choices you made in life when seen at children’s birthday parties. Magicians are now “cool” and “sexy” and “played by Lizzy Caplan.” She’s taking the place of Isla Fisher, who was presumably busy keeping a brave face as she watched her husband of six years crawl into an elephant’s vagina, as one of two new key acquisitions for the fledgling franchise. As the newly released trailer embedded above indicates, she’s one of three newcomers, along with Chinese singer Jay Chou and actual boy wizard Daniel Radcliffe, showing a little range by portraying a character who cannot do magic, but does somehow have access to every single computer in the world, which is slightly more implausible.

And now, for their next trick: a sequel!

With a fall star approaching, and cast members Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson and Isla Fisher all set to return, it looks like 'G.I. Joe: Retaliation' director Jon M. Chu will be taking over the reigns of 'Now You See Me 2' from Louis Leterrier.