Summit Entertainment nabs “The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of America’s First Superhero”.
Summit Entertainment has nabbed the rights to “The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of America’s First Superhero”.
The biography, written by William Kalush and Larry Sloman, became known for insinuating that Harry Houdini acted as a spy for Britain and was asked to be an adviser to Czar Nicholas II’s court in prerevolutionary Russia. The book also portrayed the master escape artist and magician as a debunker of con artists who pretended to be spiritualists, leading to the controversial theory that Houdini’s death was caused by the spiritual movement as payback.
Summit are looking to turn the story into an action-thriller featuring a character who is part Indiana Jones and part Sherlock Holmes.
Summit president of production Erik Feig, along with senior vp production Geoff Shaevitz and creative executive Ashley Schlaifer, who brought the book to the studio, will oversee the project.