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The book, published in 2006, made waves at the time for suggesting 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, and theorized that his death was caused by the spiritualist movement as payback.
Summit Entertainment, hoping to capitalize on worldwide recognition of Houdini's name while potentially launching a franchise, aims to take an action-adventure tack -- akin to the approach of the upcoming Sherlock Holmes movie directed by Guy Ritchie and starring Robert Downey Jr.
One of Hollywood's more in-demand screenwriters, Nathanson has worked on two "Rush Hour" movies and Steven Spielberg's "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," as well as the Spielberg character pieces "Catch Me If You Can" and "The Terminal."
Nathanson is adapting the children's book series "The 39 Clues" for DreamWorks. He made his directorial debut in 2004 with the indie crime caper "The Last Shot."
(Editing by Sheri Linden at Reuters) |
