The Movie Dave Franco Thought Would End His Career Became a Trilogy

Dave Franco once cheersed to the end of his career on the first day of filming a movie that was total chaos. Fifteen years and three sequels later, that "disaster" turned into one of his biggest franchises.

Dave Franco didn't think "Now You See Me" was going to work. In fact, on the first day of filming, the whole cast went out to dinner and "literally cheersed to the end of our careers," said Franco when he sat down with Sean Evans on "Hot Ones."

Dave Franco arrives at the premiere of "Now You See Me" on March 23, 2013

"We thought this movie was going to take us down," he recalled. He described day one as chaos. Nobody knew if any of it was going to come together.

The 2013 film centered on the Four Horsemen, played by Franco, Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, and Isla Fisher, a crew of magicians who pull off elaborate heists disguised as illusions.

As the first film was coming out, Franco admitted to Interview magazine that during his first week on set, he felt like an outsider among actors he'd admired for years. "I was intimidated," he confessed. He had also gone to see David Copperfield live to prepare for the role, trying to understand what made a magician feel real instead of like a costume and a top hat.

That near-disaster turned out to be one of Franco's most enduring franchises. Three installments later, with a fourth on the way, Franco told Evans he's learned through the years to never have expectations for a movie anymore. Not because he doesn't care, but because he's seen how wrong his own instincts can be.

Dave Franco at Lionsgate's "Now You See Me: Now You Don't" New York premiere on November 10, 2025 | Source: Getty Images