The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of America's First Superhero Movie
Summit Entertainment has recently picked up the rights to adapt the Biography by William Kalush and Larry Sloman entitled, 'The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of America's First Superhero' into a movie. This sounds like it could be an incredible film. I love the art of magic and have always had a fascination with Houdini. Have you ever seen the documentary about him on the history channel? It's really good and interesting. What this book that the movie will be based on uncovers is that not only was Houdini a master magician but he was also a active secret agent. Here is the description of the book.
Using exclusive access to newly uncovered archives, Kalush and Sloman reveal the clandestine agreements in which the British and Americans recruited Houdini to be an active secret agent. In exchange for his cooperation, the governments of these two countries facilitated his rise to the top of the world stage. The authors give thrilling accounts of his assignments, such as his participation in early aerial surveillance and his use of his own magic magazine to communicate espionage-related information. After the war, Houdini embarked upon what became his most dangerous mission when he took on the Spiritualist movement. Convinced that Spiritualist mediums were frauds, he became obsessed with exposing them. But the Spiritualists were a powerful adversary. An organized network of fanatics, led by Sherlock Holmes creator Arthur Conan Doyle, worked relentlessly to orchestrate a campaign that would silence Houdini forever. Grounded in solid research, but as exciting and dramatic as a good thriller, THE SECRET LIFE OF HOUDINI traces the magician's long and circuitous route from struggling vaudevillian to worldwide legend.
This all leads to the controversial theory that Houdini's death was caused by the spiritual movement as payback. Whether this is all true or not is one thing, it would be pretty crazy if this all did happen. But just the story sounds intriguing, and would make for a great film. Which is what Summit plans on doing. THR reports:
The studio is not looking to make a biopic but rather an action thriller featuring a character who is part Indiana Jones and part Sherlock Holmes. Summit hopes to cash in on worldwide recognition of Houdini’s name while potentially launching a franchise.
Houdini has long entranced Hollywood, with projects having been set up at studios including Columbia, Universal and Walden and such boldface names as Robert Zemeckis, Paul Verhoeven, Ang Lee and Tom Cruise keen on exploring various aspects of his character, from Houdini the lovelorn magician to Houdini the adventurer.
I a way I kind of wish Summit would do this as a biopic but If I want the full story I will just have to read the book which I just tried to order from Amazon but it is out of stock, so the search continues. I'm looking forward to seeing how this movie all comes together. What are you thinking?