The malicious magic trick of movie marketing.
The October 19, 2025 theft of eight pieces of the French Crown Jewels (valued at €88 million) from the Louvre in Paris has been making international headlines for quite a while by now, but what we're as a media entertainment magazine are interested in the most is: Was this all just a marketing stunt?
Among the many conspiracy theories surrounding the high-profile case, this one may seem far-fetched at first glance, but that hasn't stopped some from speculating that the upcoming release in the Now You See Me franchise could somehow be connected – something the filmmakers have profusely denied.
Now You See... A Marketing Opportunity
That was precisely the case when a TikTok post by user @phooxo, uploaded on October 20, went viral. In the short clip, the creator jokingly suggested that it might not be mere coincidence that an elaborate real-life heist occurred just two weeks before the release of the highly anticipated third Now You See Me film; a point she highlighted with the caption: "I love when life imitates art".
The Now You See Me films, starting in 2013, follow a team of illusionists known as the Four Horsemen who use their elaborate magic shows to pull off daring heists and expose corruption. The 2016 sequel expanded the story with new members and deeper ties to a secret society of magicians, with a long-awaited third installment set to release on November 14, 2025.
Titled Now You See Me: Now You Don't, the film is set to depict two generations of magicians working together to steal a valuable diamond attained via criminal means... Not too dissimilar from the Hortensia diamond that was first stolen by France from India in the 17th century before recently falling into unknown hands – something the official Now You See Me TikTok account claimed to have nothing to do with in the comments section unter @phooxo's viral post.
Film Promotions As Repeat Offenders
While both the original video and the comment have been mostly played for laughs, with the creator responding "Oh hello I LOVE YOU GUYS" to the brand account and others saying "Girl I actually think this TikTok is the promo for now you see me 3", such a controversial marketing campaign wouldn't be completely unprecedented.
Crimes have been staged for movies like Dead Man Down (2013), where unsuspecting eye-witnesses were subjected to a performative attempted murder attempt in an elevator to generate publicity or Blooded (2011), for which the distributor set up a website on which a fake terrorist organization claimed to be responsible for a fictional kidnapping.
While such a staging of this scope would've likely served to make the upcoming Now You See Me more notable, it's much more likely that the Louvre theft was a piece of organized crime rather than being emblematic of a corporate one. That being said, Now You See Me 4 is said to be in development as well, so perhaps we shouldn't give them any ideas...
But what do you think? Is it appropriate for companies to joke about incidences like these on social media? Or do they risk coming off as tasteless? Let us know in the comments!