Offers Out To Philip Seymour Hoffman, Olivia Wilde & Melanie Laurent
Just like pulling a rabbit out of a hat, or sawing a woman in half, Louis Leterrier‘s next film is now moving with two names conjured up to join the cast (all this magic talk will make sense in a moment).
Variety reveals that Jesse Eisenberg and Jake Gyllenhaal are in early stages of negotiations to join the high concept “Now You See Me.” First announced near the beginning of the year, the story written by Boaz Yakin (”Prince Of Persia: Sands Of Time,” “Fresh”) and Edward Ricourt, follows a crack FBI squad in a game of cat-and-mouse against a super-team of the world’s greatest illusionists, who pull off a series of daring bank heists during their performances and showers the profits on to their audiences.
Sounds like no heist movie we’ve ever seen and Summit and the filmmakers see big things for the picture. Apparently Colin Firth, Sacha Baron Cohen, Jim Carrey and Hugh Grant were all approached to take roles in the film, before it was decided to go for younger leads. Philip Seymour Hoffman, Olivia Wilde and Melanie Laurent all have offers out to them — could this be the film Laurent was talking about when we interviewed her recently?
Scheduling will be an issue for both Eisenberg and Gyllenhaal who will need to make sure their calendars have space before they sign on the dotted line. Eisenberg heads off to Italy this summer to shoot “Bop Decameron” with Woody Allen, and he’s also eyeing Noah Baumbach‘s “While We’re Young.” Jake Gyllenhaal is currently shooting David Ayer‘s “End Of Watch” but his window seems a bit more open right now.
Either way, it’s a good change of pace for Leterrier and we’re intrigued by the talent that’s being sought. We’d imagine if this all comes together, it’ll start shooting by the end of the year.
