Now You See Me: Now You Don’t director tickled by Louvre heist theory

Beyond the endless memes, the now-infamous Louvre museum break-in also sparked a half-serious conspiracy theory: that it was all just a promotional stunt for the new movie Now You See Me: Now You Don't.

- Alison de Souza

(From left) Rosamund Pike, Alex Kurtzman, Dave Franco, Woody Harrelson, Bobby Cohen, Isla Fisher, Jesse Eisenberg, Justice Smith, Ariana Greenblatt, Dominic Sessa, Lizzy Caplan, Ruben Fleischer and Morgan Freeman at the Now You See Me: Now You Don't world premiere in New York City on Nov 10. PHOTO: AFP

(AFP)

And speaking to reporters over Zoom a few weeks after the incident, the film’s director Ruben Fleischer and stars Jesse Eisenberg, Dave Franco and Isla Fisher are all tickled by the idea.

The movie is the third in a franchise that follows a group of illusionists known as the Four Horsemen. Played by Eisenberg, Franco, Fisher and Woody Harrelson, they use magic acts to pull off daring heists — not unlike the brazen Oct 19 robbery in Paris, which saw four thieves making off with some of France’s crown jewels.

And in a viral tweet on the social media platform X, a user joked that she initially laughed at the idea of the Louvre theft being staged to promote Now You See Me: Now You Don't.

Then she remembered that cast member Harrelson was in the French capital at the same time — “and now I’m suspicious”.