Jon M. Chu May Take Over 'Now You See Me 2' from Louis Leterrier

In the midst of all the superhero films raking in big bucks last year, it was Louis Leterrier's magician caper Now You See Me that pulled quite a trick by earning more than $350M on a modest budget by summer standards. And when that happened, Lionsgate was quick to start work on a sequel with Leterrier seemingly confirmed to return. But things have changed over the past year and now Leterrier is out and Jon M. Chu may be replacing him.

Chu, who just completed work on a Jem and the Holograms movie and is still in the mix to direct G.I. Joe 3, is the frontrunner to take over Now You See Me 2. The first film starred Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Woody Harrelson, and Dave Franco as a quartet of illusionists/bank robbers known as The Four Horsemen who use their stage show to steal from the rich and provide to the poor. Only Franco has yet to be confirmed to reprise his role, while Mark Ruffalo, who played a cop hot on the Horsemen's trail, is expected to return.

Leterrier had already begun plotting out the sequel so for him to suddenly drop out is a little odd. It's possible he ran into a conflict with Sacha Baron Cohen's spy comedy, Grimsby, which Leterrier is on board to direct.

Read More

Louis Leterrier to Direct Sacha Baron Cohen Spy Comedy, 'Grimsby'

After starting his career directing the first two Transporter flicks and the Jet Li actioner Unleashed (all for Luc Besson), Louis Leterrier went the blockbuster route and has pretty much stayed there. He played in the Marvel sandbox for The Incredible Hulk, followed by Clash of the Titans, and then he was at the helm for this summer's surprise smash Now You See Me, and while a sequel to that is in the works, it looks like he'll take on a comedy first.

Leterrier has agreed to direct Grimsby, the spy comedy from Sacha Baron Cohen revealed last year. Cohen will star and co-write the script with Phil Johnston (Cedar Rapids), with the story following a Black Ops agent who must go on the run with his dim-witted brother, an English soccer hooligan. While there's no word on Cohen's role it's expected he'll play one of the brothers, and I'm thinking it's possible he'll play both.

No word on when shooting could begin but with Leterrier "aggressively pursuing" the job it likely won't interfere with Now You See Me 2. [Variety]

Read More

Louis Leterrier to direct high concept heist flick, Now You See Me

If I had to rank my favorite action movie directors, one of the names that would be very high on that list would be Louis Leterrier. Sure he stunk up the joint with Clash of the Titans last year, but I'm not going to blame him for all that film's faults. Over the last decade he's directed some of my favorite action movies, including Jet Li's Unleashed, the first two Transporter flicks, and The Incredible Hulk. He just missed out on his shot to direct Fantastic Voyage for James Cameron, but I think his new gig is even better.
The Playlist has broken the exclusive story that Leterrier has signed on to direct Now You See Me, a high concept heist film about "a crack FBI squad in a game of cat-and-mouse against a super-team of the world’s greatest illusionists, who pull off a series of daring bank heists during their performances and showers the profits on to their audiences."  The film was written by Boaz Yakin(Fresh) and Edward Ricourt. 

Wow. Count me in.  I'm a sucker for crime/heist movies, but with the exception of Inception the genre has been pretty stagnant.  Even Ben Affleck's The Town is pretty conventional when you get right down to it. This sounds like a different animal altogether, and I for one am extremely excited about it.

Read More