It’s magic — and the magic is coming your way with the release of Lionsgate’s Now You See Me 2 on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD.
In the sequel to the 2013 hit film, the Four Horsemen reappear to pull off their most impossible heist yet as they try to clear their names. It’s one year since they outwitted the FBI and won the public’s adulation with their Robin Hood-style magic spectacles, and they resurface in hopes of exposing the unethical practices of a tech magnate.
Related: Penn Jillette on Magicians, Intelligence and Now You See Me 2
The man behind their vanishing act is Walter Mabry (Daniel Radcliffe), who threatens the Horsemen into pulling off their most impossible heist yet. Their only hope is to perform one last unprecedented stunt to clear their names and reveal the mastermind behind it all.
The majority of the cast is back for the second go-round — Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Dave Franco, Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine — with a few new editions — Radcliffe, Lizzy Caplan, Jay Chou, and Sanaa Lathan — and this time out, Woody Harrelson plays dual roles.
If you blinked you missed it in the first movie, but there’s a line where Dylan Rhodes (Ruffalo) says to Merritt (Harrelson), “Your brother/manager managed to disappear with all of your money.”
“I would love to tell you we knew at the time that that would be the basis for Chase, but of course it wasn’t. Once we realized it was a great opportunity, we seized it,” producer Bobby Cohen says. “So we wrote this character of Chase McKinney, who is Woody’s twin brother and also an accomplished mentalist, but he’s turned bad.
“Somewhere in the middle of the writing process, we said, ‘Who would be strong enough to go up against Woody?’, and we said, ‘What if Woody went up against Woody?’ We called Woody and said, ‘What do you think about this idea of playing your brother,’ and honestly, within two seconds, he said, ‘I’m in.'”
They may be twins, but there are differences. Chase has perfect teeth, perfect hair, and a weird tan.
“Woody was able to come up with a different character that has in many ways the same charm as Merritt does, but in a very different way and coming at it from a different angle,” Cohen adds. “If you ask Woody, I am not sure which character he enjoyed playing more.”
Related: Meet the Cast of Now You See Me 2
Now You See Me 2 arrives on Digital HD August 19 and on 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack (plus Blu-ray and Digital HD), Blu-ray Combo Pack (plus DVD and Digital HD) and DVD (plus Digital) September 6 from Lionsgate’s Summit Entertainment label.
View the original at Parade or follow us on Twitter, Facebook or Google+