I can’t image the generally poor reception and performance of The Raven is going to do much for the “famous author’s as investigators/adventurers” genre that has never really gotten anywhere anyway. Still, Harry Houdini is a relatively untapped subject on film, and apparently Joe Wright (Anna Karenina, Hanna) has shown some interest in Summit’s dormant project based on the biographic novel, The Secret Life Of Harry Houdini.
Word comes from The LA Times that Wright is currently working with Summit to lock himself in as a director, and I assume some kind of rewrite of Noah Oppenheim’s last draft of the script would soon follow.
The book on which this is all based looks at Houdini’s life from an adventuror’s perspective, and even presents conjecture that Houdini spied for the British government at one point or another. I’m not sure how substantial the evidence back that claim is, but it’s surely enough for a feature film to run with.
I’ve yet to see Anna Karenina but I like Atonement more than the average joe, and Hanna is a favorite CHUD jam, so I’m excited for that film and this one if it takes off. Wright’s an interesting director bopping back and forth between disparate styles and generes, and I don’t feel like I’ve gotten the full picture of what he’s all about and capable of. Perhaps a journey around the globe with the famous escape artist will push him even farther.
Source | LA Times (via Latino Review)