You gotta sort of admire the cojones of Lionsgate brass. 2013’s “Now You See Me” was fluke hit, a movie that managed to sleep its way to $351 worldwide (most of it internationally), and while no one particularly liked it, the studio figured there was enough juice there for a sequel. They were wrong. This summer’s “Now You See Me 2” finished with $241 million worldwide, but only $62 million of that was from North American ticket sales. And while the studio was crowing this spring that they were starting development on “Now You See Me 3,” it’s a pretty safe bet that’s not happening. However, the franchise will live on.
THR reports that Lionsgate is now brewing a spinoff movie that will be a Chinese-language co-production, featuring a Chinese cast. So why the big push there? Well, “Now You See Me 2” earned $94.5 million in the country alone, more than “Independence Day: Resurgence.” I guess magic goes over better than landmarks being blown to smithereens. China’s Leomus will be working with Lionsgate on the movie, with plans to get a Hollywood screenwriter to pen the script to make sure all the high quality connective tissue is there. And while there’s no word yet on the cast, I would presume some effort will be made to get Jay Chou to reprise his role.
While Lionsgate isn’t the first company to think of continuing a brand with a focus on China (the makers of “Need For Speed” announced a Chinese-produced sequel a while back), it is something we might see more of down the line. It’s one of the biggest movie markets in the world, and considering that the North American box office is becoming less relevant to the bottom line, it only makes sense that studios are looking elsewhere to boost the bottom line.
Meanwhile, this isn’t the only project Lionsgate and Leomus are working on — they are kicking the tires on making “Escape Plan 2,” a followup to that Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger movie you didn’t watch.