The Incredible Burt Wonderstone (2013)

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone is a 2013 American comedy film directed by Don Scardino and written by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, based on a story by Chad Kultgen and Tyler Mitchell, along with Daley and Goldstein. The film follows Las Vegas magician Burt Wonderstone (Steve Carell) as he attempts to reunite with his former partner Anton Marvelton (Steve Buscemi) to take on dangerous street magician Steve Gray (Jim Carrey). It also features Alan Arkin, Olivia Wilde, and James Gandolfini in his final film appearance during his lifetime.

Development began in 2006, when New Line Cinema bought Kultgen's script, "Burt Dickenson: The Most Powerful Magician on Planet Earth". The process gained momentum when Charles McDougall was hired as director in 2011, but he eventually left the project and was replaced with Scardino. Daley and Goldstein rewrote Kultgen's script which then had further rewrites from Jason Reitman in June 2011.

Filming was scheduled to begin in October 2011 in Los Angeles, California, but was pushed back to January 2012. On a $30 million budget, filming began on January 10, 2012, in Nevada with filming later moving to Los Angeles. The Incredible Burt Wonderstone was released on March 15, 2013, and earned over $27 million. Reviews generally praised Carrey's and Arkin's performances, but criticized the plot's inconsistent tone and predictability. Variety magazine listed The Incredible Burt Wonderstone as one of "Hollywood's biggest box office bombs of 2013" when it had made $27.4 million against a $30 million production cost.