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| Francis Lawrence |
Variety is reporting that director Francis Lawrence is in talks with Sony Pictures to develop a fresh take on what is described as a "high-profile biopic", though so far no deal has materialized.
Jimmy Miller, who's produced such Sony comedies as The Other Guys
and the upcoming Bad Teacher, will produce through his Mosaic Media Group banner.The revamped project will take a new approach, sources said, though it will still have a period setting.
Lawrence directed 2007's I Am Legend
for 20th Century Fox. His most recent helming effort, Water for Elephants, is set to bow on April 22 through the same studio.Sony/Columbia has long been passionate about bringing Houdini's life to the bigscreen. In the late '90s the studio tried to get a Houdini movie off the ground, first with director Robert Zemeckis, then Paul Verhoeven, and finally Ang Lee.
This marks the fourth Houdini film project announced this year (and I happen to know there's a fifth).
I say keep 'em coming, Hollywood! Houdini is ready for his closeup.
A 'fresh take' would be telling the real story for a change. I want to see an Oscar worthy Houdini bio-pic. But still, any news of a possible film is good news.
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Hearing about yet another Houdini film in the works is both exciting and frustrating for me. Exciting, because I've been underwhelmed by the Houdini films that have been made thus far. Frustrating, because I had my own Houdini passion project kicking around for a while, and though it had a few fans in the industry, it was deemed ultimately too expensive and couldn't quite gain traction (in part because it was cross-genre--mine essentially crossed a Houdini biopic with "Faust"). I sure hope the audience never tires of hearing Houdini's story in all its many permutations.
I like the sound of your project, Ace. I certainly understand your frustration.
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