not considered for the roles of Harry and Karl, but O'Connor changed his mind "it became clear they could do these parts really well. And we thought, well, wouldn't it be great to do our first movie with people we know, because we really admire and enjoy working with them". Unlike most other Mitchell and Webb projects, Olivia Colman does not have a main part in the film. O'Connor explained that "Olivia was part of the development and did some read-throughs with us. I guess our feeling was that because of the relationship between [Mitchell and Webb] and Olivia in Peep Show, to have taken that same relationship, it would have been a really weird thing for the audience. I must say I think she'd have been great in the part, she was great in the read-throughs, I just thought we couldn't have done that." Mitchell admitted, the day before the film's release, that he "really got into" his role as Harry. Mitchell and Webb were taught basic magical skills for the film, with them each receiving "welcome pack of DVDs telling the history of magic". Andrew O'Connor was a member of The Magic Circle but was thrown out for revealing secrets, so he and Scott Penrose taught Mitchell and Webb magical skills. Whilst filming in Nottingham, unit signs being used in the film were repeatedly being stolen by teenagers as they had the word "magic" on them. Multiple signs had to be ordered, at £3 each. The magic shield competition takes place in Jersey, but the filming for these was done in Skegness. Reception Box office The film opened on 251 screens on 18 May 2007, grossing £366,188 in its first weekend - a sum described as "healthy" but "low-key" by Variety. Overall it charted fairly poorly at the box office, generating £154,822 in its second week, placing it sixth at the British box office, before dropping to 20th with £25,404 the following week, and to 32nd with $3,766 the next, before dropping out of the chart. Its total gross was £885,174. Critical response The film received mixed reviews. Empire reviewer Olly Richards gave Magicians three stars, concluding that "The bumbling charms of the stars just about pull this through, but there'll be few calls for an encore come the final curtain." Derek Malcolm said that Mitchell and Webb "don't exactly cover themselves with glory in their first feature