Not all film franchises are built equal. While some manage to capture the audience’s attention for multiple installments, like John Wick, and continue to thrive at the box office, others, like Underworld, started strong but soon became a direct-to-video franchise due to diminishing returns. Others occupy a middle ground; franchises like Transformers maintain American fans but rely heavily on international box office success, particularly in markets like China. Now, Woody Harrelson‘s magical heist franchise, Now You See Me, is in a bit of a precarious place, entering a turning point, though we would argue it should never have gotten to this juncture.
The original Now You See Me may not have been a critical darling, but it found a fan base in the West thanks to its ensemble cast and an intriguing twist on the heist genre featuring illusionists. The second film lost almost half of its American audience ($117.7 million at the domestic box office for the first, compared to $65.1 million for the second). The third film is unlikely to do gangbusters at the box office, even with the now commonplace allure of a special commemorative popcorn bucket.
The reason for this decline between the first two films (and the potential further decline in the third) is not entirely clear, though word of mouth certainly did not help. However, the franchise has remained profitable, with the international market embracing the film more and China becoming the predominant market for the heist franchise. The third film, Now You See Me: Now You Don’t, is likely now more dependent on the Chinese box office than on the American one, but even with success abroad, the franchise should have ended with the second film.
‘Now You See Me 2’ Was Awful and Should Have Been the End of the Franchise
There was some charm to be found in 2013’s Now You See Me, as the illusionist angle to the heist genre created enjoyably mind‑mending scenarios. These moments certainly asked the audience to suspend some disbelief, but it was only slightly beyond the realm of possibility until the third act. Now You See Me 2 followed an out-of-touch Hollywood approach: creating a bigger spectacle, reducing the story’s endearing elements, and pushing the already absurd illusionist angle into the realm of the unbelievable.
Now You See Me 2 was so awful, in so many ways. Firstly, the original film’s ending, while divisive, was conclusive. The second film would take already rocky ground and continue to build on it to the point of tedium, overcomplicating what was previously a clean narrative. Moreover, the movie is filled with cringe-inducing scenes, with the infamous card-throwing moment that showed the franchise had given up on any semblance of realism. Even more egregious, the climax, which featured a trick within a trick in the plane sequence, was utterly groan-inducing.
While the sequel would continue to allure with an ensemble cast, including the returning Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, and Mark Ruffalo, the franchise also began to show its cracks. Now You See Me 2 will forever be notable for the miscasting and misdirection of Daniel Radcliffe, though that’s not a knock on Radcliffe himself. Instead, his character was so tonally inconsistent, shifting constantly between menace and goofiness. This mishandling of talent makes the subsequent decision to expand even further in the third film worrisome.
‘Now You See Me: Now You Don’t’ Is a Desperate Attempt To Breathe Life Into a Dying Franchise
In his review for MovieWeb, Julian Roman would comment on the handling of the large cast, stating: “We see the cast in circular set-ups where each character kind of mills around and talks on cue. Exposition doesn’t happen naturally, but in repeated pass-the-mic moments as the narrative progresses.” He added, “These interactions feel staged and artificial, whereas the previous films had a more natural flow.” While there was already a decline in the quality of interaction between the cast from the first to the second film, a further degradation of the film’s charm as an ensemble is not surprising. Again, the franchise continues the old-school thinking that adding more name value will increase enjoyment, which is far from the case.
Already boasting a large cast of talent from its previous iterations, the addition of Ariana Greenblatt, Justice Smith, and Dominic Sessa seems more of a desperate bid to attract a younger audience in the guise of training a new generation of illusionists. Justice Smith, in particular, has been quietly emerging as a future star, earning his indie cred and finding fans. More cast comes with even more of a sacrifice in delivering an engaging story and ensuring actors’ talents don’t go underutilized. Of course, there is room to be wrong, and perhaps a decade from now we will be seeing the sixth film (the fourth is already in the works) in the franchise led by a younger cast, particularly if the movie continues to thrive in the international market. For Western audiences, however, the franchise has become a bloated mess best laid to rest to free up talent for other projects.
At Least We Will Always Have 2013’s ‘Now You See Me’
As film fans, we seldom want to see a franchise fail. The best path is always to say something “is not for us” and let people enjoy their things; to each their own is an often understated sentiment in the crowded world of online discussion. Still, for Now You See Me, its reliance on foreign markets, bloated plot, mishandled cast, and continued decline does have us wishing it was put out to pasture after the failure of the second.
The first film, Now You See Me, is far from a masterpiece, but it is enjoyable theater fodder that thrives on a phenomenal cast and an exciting approach to the heist genre. Some are predicting that the new film could be a sleeper hit. Still, it is almost easy to say with conviction that it will not be better than the first, which, for those wanting to check out the franchise, is worth watching and then ignoring the sequels.
While we see the franchise as beyond redemption, we still welcome you to see Now You See Me: Now You Don’t in theaters on November 14, 2025, and make up your own mind.
- Release Date
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November 14, 2025
- Runtime
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0 Minutes
- Director
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Ruben Fleischer
- Writers
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Seth Grahame-Smith, Michael Lesslie, Eric Warren Singer
- Producers
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Alex Kurtzman