Now You See Me 2's Disappearing Card Trick Explained
The "Now You See Me" franchise, which consists of two films thus far, has been a fairly successful one, at least financially. Together, the two movies have grossed over $670 million at the worldwide box office (per The Numbers). "Now You See Me 2" was released all the way back in 2016, and a third film and a spin-off have long been gestating since. Essentially heist films, both "Now You See Me" movies center around a group of magicians who pull off elaborate heists while trying to stay one step ahead of the law enforcement agencies who pursue them.
Given that the films are about magicians, audiences naturally would expect mind-bending magic tricks, and both films deliver their fair share of visually appealing illusions. However, in "Now You See Me 2," there's a particularly elaborate and extended disappearing card trick sequence that seems like it would have been especially difficult to film. In fact, it was so elaborate that director Jon M. Chu broke down exactly what it took to stage such a scene and what the actors had to do to prepare for it.
Now You See Me 2's disappearing card trick took a lot of preparation
During an interview with Gizmodo back in 2016, "Now You See Me 2" director Jon M. Chu explained exactly what went into constructing the disappearing card trick. Chu revealed that it took several cameras of varying size, oversized clothing, use of CG, and the expertise of card trick expert Andrei Jikh. Chu would film Jikh performing card tricks that he thought would be useful for the actual scene and then have actor Dave Franco (Jack Wilder) practice them extensively.
"I would have [Franco] practice and I would take my iPhone and move the camera around how the audience would see the card, or not see the card," Chu revealed. "And then we would Band-Aid that to the next sequence and be like, 'Do we need like a CG tie-together?' Or can we do things physically? Or how much are we cutting away to? Where are the security guards standing? We made charts and charts of everybody's placement."
The other challenge was the small size of the room where the sequence took place. Chu said that it took two weeks to properly shoot the scene in a way that was crisp and consistent. It's clear that the disappearing card trick was one of the most elaborate sequences in either film, and it took the hard work of everyone involved to pull it off.