Louis Letterrier Will Return to Direct the Sequel to Now You See Me

*from ComingSoon.net
One of the summer’s biggest surprise success stories was that of the magic-based ensemble heist flick Now You See Me, directed by Louis Leterrier (Clash of the Titans) and starring Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher, Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine.

Having grossed nearly $300 million worldwide, it was probably no surprise when Lionsgate announced earlier this month that they were going to move forward with a sequel to the movie with no other details.

When ComingSoon.net spoke to Louis Letterier back in May, no one knew how well the movie might do, so asking about a sequel at that point seemed to be putting the cart before the horse, but when talking to Leterrier about the extras on the DVD and Blu-ray earlier today, the director mentioned that the long version of the first movie also includes a scene they shot that sets up a possible sequel.

He told us why they removed that scene from the original movie. “It was sort of ending up (with the movie) in ‘onto further adventures,’ which is fine, but we don’t really do that. We had a scene that we kept and when Lionsgate and Summit said, ‘Yeah, let’s do a sequel,’ I said, ‘Okay let’s put it on the DVD and do the longer cut. It’s after the credits, but I was very conscious of not jinxing it. This summer I saw a couple of movies where they had ‘sequelitis’ and you totally jinx it, but this was only for the DVD and only for the Blu-ray.”

Leterrier also confirmed that he will be returning to direct the sequel and is already planning out what that might be, since being involved with another movie was always something on his mind even if few people could have guessed how successful the movie would be. “Obviously it was always part of it. I’m currently, not writing, but we’re coming up with the story, the plot, the everything, the twist and the new characters and everything. It was always at least a diptych, two movies, to tell one long story, so yeah, I’m very much involved in it. I don’t know if it’s going to be my next movie. I know we want to do it pretty fast but I might be able to do another movie in between.”

Now You See Me is out on DVD and Blu-ray on September 3. Look for the rest of our interview with Louis Leterrier before then.

New Poster for The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

I’m really looking forward to The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (click the link to see the trailer) when it comes out this Christmas.  It looks like they may have gotten this right after over 15 years in development.  Mitty stars Ben Stiller, Kristen Wiig, Sean Penn, Adam Scott and Shirley MacLaine.  Official synopsis below.  By the way, if you dug the song in the trailer (which I did and looked it up), it’s “Dirty Paws” by Of Monsters and Men.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is based on James Thurber’s classic story of a day-dreamer who escapes his anonymous life by disappearing into a world of fantasies filled with heroism, romance and action. When his job along with that of his co-worker (Wiig) are threatened, Walter takes action in the real world embarking on a global journey that turns into an adventure more extraordinary than anything he could have ever imagined.

Trailer Time: Pompeii (2014)

First look today at an early film from 2014: Paul W.S. Anderson’s Pompeii.  It stars Game of Thrones’ Kit Harrington, Emily Browning, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Carrie Ann Moss, Paz Vega, Jared Harris and Keifer Sutherland (who will point a gun at the volcano and threaten it….I would be nine times more likely to see this if he was in character as Jack Bauer).  The screenplay is by Julian Fellowes of Downton Abbey fame, which might get you excited before you recall it’s being directed by the man who brought us Death Race, AvP and seventy-two Resident Evil movies.  Mind wide open, people.  Mind wide open.  Pompeii will open February21, 2014 and the official synopsis is below.

Set in the days leading up to the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, a slave on a ship heading for Naples works to get home to save the woman he loves and his best friend, a gladiator trapped inside the city’s coliseum.