Houdini biopic may be helmed by ‘10 Cloverfield Lane’ director

A new movie about master illusionist and escape artist Harry Houdini is on the horizon, and it looks like “10 Cloverfield Lane” director Dan Trachtenberg could be helming the project.

Trachtenberg directed numerous commercials before hitting it big when he was recruited to direct one of 2016’s most impressive films, the J.J. Abrams-produced “10 Cloverfield Lane.” It was Trachtenberg’s big Hollywood movie debut. Now, he is reportedly in talks with Lionsgate to direct the Houdini biopic.

Trachtenberg also directed the “Portal – No Escape” short film, which is based on the “Portal” series of video games, and more recently a Season 3 “Black Mirror” episode called “Playtest.”

America’s first superhero

Houdini has been the subject of many TV movies and films, but it has been a while since Hollywood has honored him with a feature-length film. It isn’t for lack of trying, however. In 2009, “Catch Me If You Can” screenwriter Jeff Nathanson wrote a script for a proposed Houdini movie. But in 2011, this was scrapped in favor of a script by Noah Oppenheim. There were also reports that Dean Parisot had been chosen as the film’s director, with Johnny Depp taking the role of Houdini.

It is unclear if Trachtenberg will be directing Oppenheim’s screenplay. Not that that would be a bad thing; Oppenheim, after all, was the screenwriter of this year’s “Jackie,” a critically acclaimed movie about Jackie Kennedy.

There is no word yet about whether or not Johnny Depp is still set to play the lead role.

Book cover image: Simon and Schuster

The biopic will be based on a book called “The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of America’s First Superhero,” by magic expert William Kalush and writer Larry Sloman.

Like the book, the movie will depict Houdini as an adventurer and the bane of occultists. As preposterous as that sounds, it is in line with history, as the real Houdini was an uncompromising critic and debunker of fraudulent “spiritualists.”

This ultimately cost him his friendship with renowned “Sherlock Holmes” creator and writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who ardently believed in spiritualism.

The book’s synopsis says that authors Kalush and Sloman "[drew] from millions of pages of research" to recount Houdini's life "from desperate poverty to worldwide fame," including his supposed time as a spy and his relationship with Conan Doyle. — BM, GMA News