Magicians often insist there's nothing up their sleeve, but the illusionists in are so good that they fill up their audience's pockets.

Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco and Woody Harrelson play a performance troupe that uses its skills for a little Robin Hood-style wealth redistributing — and MTV News is giving you the first look behind that magic curtain.

"I've always been attracted to magic," Fisher told MTV News during a visit to the set last year. "It keeps a part of your childish optimism alive to see someone do something like that. And actually Jesse [Eisenberg] has gotten really good. He can actually do genuine magic now, and so can some of the other cast."

As Michael Atlas, Eisenberg is the ringleader of the group in more ways than one. But he said the film gave him a unique opportunity to learn about art forms and develop talents he never knew he had. "You get to learn such a specific skill you would never otherwise probably come in contact," Eisenberg observed. "Because magicians and actors ... you know, like skateboards and bicyclists, we don't interact, but we're doing the same thing, compete for the same audience."

Eisenberg previously worked with Harrelson on the buddy-horror-comedy "Zombieland," but he said the cast has really bonded over the course of filming, especially since they all have so many interesting things to do. "The cast is amazing," he said. "You read the script, there's like 10 great roles here, everybody's got something to do. And when they put together the cast, you saw that ...

Is he John? Or Khan? Actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who plays the mysterious villain in isn't telling.

But he says that when he first agreed to take on the role, he didn't even know everything about the character.

"I had a very good pitch from J.J. on the phone," he told MTV News of director J.J. Abrams at the film's London premiere. "I didn't have time to read the whole script before I began."

Cumberbatch is popping up everywhere lately. After making waves as Sherlock Holmes on BBC's television series of the same name, he landed choice roles in films by Steven Spielberg ("War Horse"), Peter Jackson ("The Hobbit") and Steve McQueen ("Twelve Years a Slave"). While all the "Star Trek" footage released so far has kept his identity — and motives — mostly secret, Cumberbatch's character threatens to throw the crew of the Enterprise and all of Starfleet into chaos.

The "Star Trek" Crew — Even J.J. Abrams! — Are Bringing An Exclusive Clip To MTV On Wednesday!

While Cumberbatch was eventually able to find out what was in store for his character, Abrams delivered a script to him that was suitably protected to preserve its secrets.

"I did ask for it, and it was then brought to me by a human being with a copy locked to his wrist," Cumberbatch said, laughing. "And it was interesting — I loved the story. It was so complex and intriguing and funny."

Another filmmaker Cumberbatch is set to collaborate with is Guillermo del Toro, whose new film "Pacific Rim" seems poised to smash its summer competition. ...

If there's one thing Robert Downey Jr. does best as Tony Stark, it's delivering his superhero lines as if he's making them up as he goes along.

But despite the actor's spontaneous, scenery-chewing demeanor, co-star Sir Ben Kingsley said Downey is always working with his fellow actors, not against them.

"I think that as in any collaborative event, even if people are opposed to one another, like tennis players, you have to keep your eye on the other player," Kingsley told MTV News. "You have to anticipate and joy in the movements and twists and turns. Robert never strays off dialogue. His gift is to make the written word look utterly spontaneous."

Kingsley plays the Mandarin, a mysterious figure who aspires to destroy America's decadent Western values. A sort of "super-terrorist" created almost from the iconography of the worst leaders in history, Mandarin dons a bin Laden-like beard and extensive visual representations of his exoticism — his otherness.

The actor's responsibility was to remain placid, certain and resolute in his authority, a challenge he said was less difficult than one might expect when pitted against Downey's quick wit and febrile intelligence. "Very little if anything is thrown at the actor that isn't in the script," he said. "So we do have a map, and we can stick to the map.

"I think he calls it the box," Kingsley continued. "You play inside it, you don't play outside of it. So he's a very stimulating and wonderful comrade to work with."

Watch Kingsley and Downey share the screen in "Iron Man 3," which is ...

In a number of action sequences feature Tony Stark fighting off opponents with only a few pieces of his armor rather than the whole suit. Remarkably, however, Gwyneth Paltrow said the third installment in the immensely popular franchise had all the pieces lined up before shooting began.

"The great thing about '3' is that [director/writer] Shane [Black] and [writer] Drew [Pearce], we had a complete screenplay when we started, and that was great," Paltrow told MTV News. "The other two movies, we were writing as we were going, we were improvising the whole thing, and it was a much more difficult process."

While Paltrow's revelation sounds damning of the first two "Iron Man" movies and their creators, she insists that a variety of unavoidable circumstances, not a lack of creativity, demanded that approach. "It was no one's fault," she said. "It was just because of timing and this and that."

Paltrow also said that starting production with a script that not only featured a beginning, middle and end, but one that gave the characters a lot of substance, made her job as an actress much easier once she stepped onto set.

"When you start with a screenplay that's really, really well-thought-through and is dealing with deeper meanings and it works on a hugely commercial level, but goes a lot deeper — it was easy. It was, 'Oh, this is all here this time. This is great!' I could just think about what I'm doing and fill it all in."

"Iron Man 3" is now in theaters.

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Boston's biggest artists are set to perform a benefit for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing. New Kids on the Block, Aerosmith, James Taylor and Dane Cook among others are heading to Beantown on May 30 for Boston Strong: An Evening of Support and Celebration.

While additional artist will be announced in the weeks to come, Jason Aldean, Boston, Jimmy Buffett, Extreme, Godsmack, The J. Geils Band, Carole King and Steven Wright are all confirmed to perform at the benefit. Proceeds will go to The One Fund Boston, whose founders, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, created to assist Bostonians "most affected by the tragic events that occurred in Boston on April 15," according to a press release.

NKOTB member Donnie Wahlberg said he hoped the event would entertain and inspire. "Like so many other proud Bostonians who have been extremely generous, we are honored to step up and do our part to help the victims and their families," Wahlberg said. "Hopefully this event will not only raise money, but spirits as well."

Other Boston natives who might be called upon — or volunteer — to perform include Frank Black, Bobby Brown, Aimee Mann, Al B. Sure, Rob Zombie and Amanda Palmer, the latter of whose poetry drew attention on the internet in the days after the April 15 bombings. Meanwhile, acts such as Neil Diamond and Kenny Chesney have already joined the fund-raising efforts: Chesney launched his own fund to benefit the Boston Medical Center, while Diamond announced that he will donate all of the ...