Dan Trachtenberg in talks to helm Harry Houdini biopic

Image from Metro

By Darian Scalamoni

            I first heard of Dan Trachtenberg when I saw his short film Portal: No Escape based on the video game franchise Portal. It was brilliant and I was awaiting to see what he would do next. After being attached to multiple projects that were I development including directing a feature film based on the novel, Y: The Last Man, he made his feature debut with the J.J. Abrams produced, 10 Cloverfield Lane, earlier this year. It seems that he has finally picked his next movie; according to Deadline, he’s in talks to direct a Harry Houdini biopic.

            Harry Houdini, for those who don’t know is a legendary illusionist and escape artist. A feature film about Houdini has been in development for years now and it’ll be interesting to see if Trachtenberg will officially sign on and wind up directing it. Back in 2011, Dean Parisot (Galaxy Quest, Fun with Dick and Jane) was set to direct and the movie was to star Johnny Depp, since then, Adrien Brody played Houdini in a mini-series for the History channel.

            I’m excited for this as I think Houdini is a fascinating public figure of the past and would love to see what Trachtenberg can do with it. Noah Oppenheim (Jackie, The Maze Runner) is set to write the script that will be based off of the book The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of America’s First Superhero written by William Kalush and Larry Sloman. Hopefully we get some news on who will play Houdini in the near future.