Houdini film bags a director

Jeff Nathanson has signed to write and direct the adaptation of William Kalush and Larry Sloman's Harry Houdini biography The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of America's First Superhero for Summit Entertainment.

Like many people I find Houdini a fascinating character so seeing him on the big screen should be excellent.

The book, published in 2006 by Atria Books, made waves at the time for insinuating that Houdini was a spy for Britain and was asked to be an adviser to Czar Nicholas II's court in pre-revolutionary 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 theory that his death was caused by the spiritual movement as payback.

According to THR, Summit, hoping to capitalize on worldwide recognition of Houdini's name while potentially launching a franchise, is looking to take a more action-adventure tack -- akin to the one taken by the upcoming Guy Ritchie-Robert Downey Jr. Sherlock Holmes movie.

I'm not sure if his past work fills me with hope for this project. Nathanson has worked on two "Rush Hour" movies and Steven Spielberg's "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." He also wrote Spielberg character pieces "Catch Me If You Can" and "The Terminal."

Who do you see playing the part of Houdini?

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