Vampires, zombies, fairy tales….Harry Houdini? Yep, it appears that the famed magician is the latest Hollywood obsession. With Summit pairing up with writer Noah Oppenheim to adapt “The Secret Life Of Houdini” and DreamWorks acquiring the spec script from “Changeling” writer J. Michael Straczynski entitled “Voices From The Dead,” it seems the execs see big potential in the illusionist and showman. And now Sony is throwing their hat in the ring.
Variety reports that Francis Lawrence is in talks to tackle a biopic on Harry Houdini for the studio. It appears to be in pretty early stages with no details really except that it will be “high-profile” and will retain the period setting. The studio has long eyed a biopic and nearly in the late ’90s enlisted Paul Verhoeven for a potential flick, but it never got off the ground.
In the trailers for his forthcoming “Water For Elephants,” Lawrence has certainly showed a attention-grabbing visual eye for period fare, so we know he can make it look good., but “Constantine” and “I Am Legend” were both hobbled by weak scripts. So, really, if he can get a decent script in place, this could potentially be something quite good but there is still a long way to go before traction truly starts on the flick.