Director John Chu and Magician Keith Barry Reveal Secrets from Now You See Me 2

A good movie is always magical, but Now You See Me 2 is truly movie magic, employing the skills of mentalist, hypnotist and magician Keith Barry and world-famous illusionist David Copperfield to help create real-life illusions and to train the actors to do enough sleight of hand to make it look as if they really are as talented as their characters in the film.

“We said, ‘Let’s build these things, let’s actually prove to the audience that it’s not cut away, that these actors have trained and are doing these things,'” director John Chu told Parade.com during an interview at Los Angeles’ Magic Castle to promote the film’s DVD and Blu-ray release. “Whether they believe us or not, that’s a different story. We really wanted to do it for ourselves, and, I think instinctually, you feel the reality of it in that way.”

In Now You See Me 2, the Four Horsemen [J. Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson), Jack Wilder (Dave Franco), and new team member Lula (Lizzy Caplan)] return one year after outwitting the FBI for a comeback performance in hopes of exposing the unethical practices of a tech magnate. The man behind their vanishing act is Walter Mabry (Daniel Radcliffe), who blackmails the Horsemen into pulling off their most impossible heist yet. Their only way to save themelves from the  precarious position he has put them in is to perform one last unprecedented stunt to clear their names and expose Mabry for who he really is.

Also: Watch the story behind Woody Harrelson’s dual role in NYSM2.

Here is more of the interview with Chu and Barry from the event at the Magic Castle: 

What were the challenges in taking on something that already existed and making it yours?

John Chu:  The hardest part was I was a huge fan of the first movie. I had a long conversation with Louie Leterrier, who directed that first one, who was very generous in opening up some of his process with me. But, really, every magic trick changes depending on where in the theater you’re sitting. I love the idea that changing the perspective changes the trick as a whole. In the first movie, you didn’t get to be with the Horsemen because they were doing the trick on the audience. In this one we get to go behind the curtain, be with them as they’re trapped in the magic trick, and we get to be with them as they use their magic skills to get out. Immediately, I thought that was a different approach.

As a magician, what were your challenges for the second film to make it more exciting than the first?  

Keith Barry: I think it was twofold  One was coming up with magic that could be done, not only on camera, but in real life as well. John Chu and Bobby Cohen, the producer, said to me, “Look, Keith, the illusions that we design for this movie, we want to make sure that they could have the potential to be done in real life.” So, nearly all of the sequences of magic in the movie have the potential to be done in real life.

When Lizzy Caplan gets her head chopped off, that took us three months to design the illusion so that we could put the actress in there, and for all intents and purposes from the illusion world, actually chop her head off.  In other words, it wasn’t CGI; it was really her head in there. It was a real challenge designing stuff that could be done in real life, then teaching the actors how to actually do it, which is a challenge in and of itself. Teaching them how to spin cards, throw cards, catch cards, back palm cards, full palm cards; this stuff doesn’t happen overnight. It’s not easy to learn, but they all rose to the challenge.

What about the scene where it rained up instead of down?

John Chu: Everything had to have real context to it. That’s what we started with coming in; no matter what we do, even if we do use CG — we use some CG in freezing the rain — it had to be a trick that could be done if you had the right resources and space. If you actually look up freezing rain on YouTube, you’ll see some amazing stuff, just on a smaller scale.

Which of the actors proved to have the most natural ability?

Keith Barry: Dave Franco is definitely the most naturally gifted of the four Horsemen for sure. Even the actors say it. He was just amazing at picking everything up, especially with a deck of cards. To an extent, if he wanted to, he could certainly become a professional card shark or magician. He could go to Vegas and take down the house if he wanted to. 

At the end of the movie, there was this reveal of how the magic tricks were done. Isn’t that against the magician’s code?

Keith Barry:  Yes, that’s why I had to come up with magic tricks that magicians here in the Magic Castle wouldn’t get annoyed about me revealing. I designed the illusions with that in mind. I also designed illusions that it was okay to reveal the methodology behind. I think it was okay to expose how we chopped off Lizzy Caplan’s head; it was an illusion designed specifically for the movie. Nobody’s going to go around the world with a couch designed in such a way that the person’s head could be chopped off. Yes, it’s breaking the magician’s code, but the movie requires that. The most important thing for me was to stay true to magic techniques and not reveal techniques that magicians are using on a regular basis.

And will there be a Now You See Me 3?

John Chu: We’re working on it now. The audience turned up. It’s been great to hear their reaction and to get their feedback. We have some really big ideas for the next one, and we’ll really try to change it up even more so.

Now You See Me 2 is available on Digital HD 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) from Lionsgate’s Summit Entertainment label.