"Now You See Me 2" leads (l-r) Jessie Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco and Lizzy Caplan portray the Four Horsemen. (Photo : YouTube / Movieclips Trailers)
Lions Gate's "Now You See Me 2" movie earned a whooping 98 million RMB or $148.8 million on its China opening day on June 24, Friday, making it to the top of the Chinese movie market. Its original action-comedy about adventuring magicians in 2013 is 679 percent lower in earnings. The figures underline the Chinese market explosive growth in three years.
Directed by Chinese-American Jon M. Chu, the Ed Solomon-penned caper comedy earned $45 million in its first two weeks in the United States and another $50 million outside the country, and it includes $12 million from Russia, according to Variety. Lions Gate CEO Jon Feltheimer expected the sequel to exceed $351.7 million worldwide.
The "Now You See Me" sequel to the magic and illusion film, which was a surprise hit, first showed ub cinemas on June 10. It has scenes filmed in China and characters speaking in Chinese. A red-carpet premiere was held at the Beijing Wanda Theater, attended by Chu and cast member Mark Ruffalo. Two-thirds of the film's cost is already covered by foreign sales.
The original movie earned $2 million on its China opening in 2013, though the day was a Thursday. "Now You See Me 2" has returning stars Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Ruffalo and Morgan Freeman. Lizzy Caplan replaces Isla Fisher as a Horsewoman. Fisher reportedly cannot reprise her role because of pregnancy but Caplan plays a new character named Lula May.
Radcliffe is among the new additions to the feature film. The Summit Entertainment-distributed movie franchise is produced by Bobby Cohen, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. It also stars Jay Chou, Sanaa Lathan and Michael Caine.
The story is about Four Horsemen, four illusionists who have been in a cat-and-mouse race with authorities. In the "Now You See Me" sequel, Eisenberg, Harrelson, Franco and Caplan are back to clear their names and expose the unscrupulous tech mogul Walter Mabry (Radcliffe). However, Mabry turned the situation around to his favor and forced them to steal a decrypting device for him.
Meanwhile, Director Chu reteams with Lionsgate to direct the next film, "Now You See Me 3," according to The Hollywood Reporter. Feltheimer signalled that the third movie Is already in the works at the studio.
Watch Chu's action-comedy film trailer below.
