Now You See Me - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of Now You See Me or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to Now You See Me

[phyllis]

Each of the tarot cards refers to a Horseman. J. Daniel Atlas' (Jesse Eisenberg's) card is the "Lovers", referencing his implied sexual prowess. Merritt McKinney's (Woody Harrelson's) card is the "Hermit", referencing how his brother abandons him and destroys his career, leaving him alone and with nothing. Henley Reeves' (Isla Fisher's) card is the "High Priestess", referencing her trick with the bloody tank, similar to a blood sacrifice. Jack Wilder's (Dave Franco's) card is "Death", and his is the only card with a meaning that is not explained until late in the movie, where he fakes his own death. The Death card in Tarot mainly means change, most likely referencing Wilder's change from being seen as a kid at the start, to an actual adult at the end.

[caroline]

The carousel shown in Central Park is actually from City Park in New Orleans, Louisiana, while the theater shown in New Orleans, Louisiana is in Los Angeles, California.

[kylie]

While in New Orleans, Louisiana, French Interpol Agent Alma Dray (Mélanie Laurent), is wearing a striped shirt. This is a reference to a famous French New Wave movie, Breathless (1960), in which the main female character, Patricia Franchini (Jean Seberg), wears striped clothes throughout the movie. This look, along with short hair, became the "look" throughout the 1960s and 1970s. This "look" has been revamped among celebrities recently, as the popular culture looks to French New Wave as a retro and stylish inspiration.

[russell]

Olivia Wilde was offered a role.

[jesse]

After The Four Horsemen get arrested, Merrit McKinney (Woody Harrelson) tells the F.B.I. Agent, "There's no shame for a man to wear a dress." In Anger Management (2003), Woody played a Security Guard named Gary, who was a cross-dresser named Galaxia.

[aaron]

After The Four Horsemen get arrested, Merrit McKinney (Woody Harrelson) tells the F.B.I. Agent, "There's no shame for a man to wear a dress." This is a reference to J. Edgar Hoover, long-time Director of the F.B.I., who was revealed to be a cross-dresser after his death.

[tamara]

When Jack (Dave Franco) and Dylan (Mark Ruffalo) land in the garbage, above the Shrike magician prop-box, is an apartment mailbox labelled "Shrike". This is for apartment 6-A, and is the apartment of The Four Horsemen, previously owned by Lionel Shrike (Richard Laing), and later, more importantly, his son's apartment.

[camila]

Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jim Carrey, Hugh Grant, Sacha Baron Cohen, and Colin Firth were considered for the lead roles, before it was decided to go for younger leads.

[fred]

Morgan Freeman and Common appeared in Wanted (2008).

[jeffrey]

When Morgan Freeman says, "These bars give a man time to think." He says the same line in The Shawshank Redemption (1994).

[harry]

Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman), a former magician who debunks other magicians, shares some similarities with James Randi, the famous magician and escape artist. Although James Randi does not, and would not, reveal another magician's tricks, he does debunk psychics and other fraudsters. He is also seen frequently wearing a large hat, similar to the one that Thaddeus wears throughout the movie.

[willard]

Isla Fisher got into difficulty while filming the piranha tank scene. The top of the tank remained opened so that Fisher would be able to swim to the top to get some air, and there was also an emergency lever inside the tank that, if pulled, would alert the crew that she needed help. During one take, Fisher was running out of air, and tried to swim to the top, but the chains on handcuffs she was wearing got stuck on the bottom of the tank, so she was unable to swim to the top, or pull the lever. She then attempted to alert the crew by hitting the glass of the tank, but since her character is supposed to be panicked and scared in the scene, the crew thought she was acting. She was stuck for three minutes, before the Stunt Coordinator finally realized that something was wrong, after he noticed that her handcuffs were stuck.

[eli]

Arthur Tressler (Michael Cain meets Thaddeus Bradley (Morgan Freeman) in New Orleans and says to him while holding a voodoo doll, "Let me be blunt. My bank account is much, much bigger than yours. My lawyers are much stronger. And they will manacle you with so many injunctions until you stand by hopelessly, watching everything that you own drain away in front of your greedy little eyes." Thaddeus replies, "You shouldn't have done that. According to superstition, one who uses a doll to enact one's own wrath is likely to bring that very wrath unto himself." At the end of the Four Horsemen's New Orleans show, Tressler suffers this very fate.

[fred]

Sir Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, and Jesse Eisenberg have appeared in movies based on DC Comics characters. Mark Ruffalo appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

[jim]

The card trick in the opening sequence works in real life, too. There is no editing, contrary to popular belief. It is done by performing what is known as a "card force", wherein the magician makes the unsuspecting audience member pick a predetermined card. The audience member believes he picks a random card, a belief which is strengthened by the magician usually re-shuffling the deck several times. This is, of course, just misdirection.

[jesse]

Certain elements of the film are similar to the ensemble format of the original tv version of "Mission: Impossible", where the IMF used conventional illusion and espionage techniques to complete a mission. This feel at times plays like "Mission:Impossible", with purely (hardcore) Magic.

[miriam]

In the original draft of the script, there was no female in the Four Horsemen.

[kim]

The final scene was filmed on the Pont des Arts in Paris, France, which, as shown in this movie, was famous for having an estimated one million "love locks" attached to its railings. However, on June 1, 2015, city council workmen started to remove the padlocks following years of complaints from locals.

[camila]

Amanda Seyfried was considered for the role of Henley Reeves.