The Hollywood Reporter writes that Summit Entertainment has hired Jeff Nathanson to write and direct its upcoming adaptation of the controversial book The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of America's First Superhero.
By choosing Nathanson, Summit makes clear its plans for the big-screen version of Houdini's life. Despite directing the relatively small The Last Shot, Nathanson's best known for his writing credits on the two Rush Hour movies, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Catch Me If You Can, and The Terminal. The Houdini movie will reportedly have a heavy action-oriented focus, making use of not only Houdini's reputation as an escape artist but also the book's insinuations that he was a British spy.
It may be a little while before Nathanson gets around to writing the script, though, since he currently has his plate full writing an adaptation of the children's book series The 39 Clues and a Milli Vanilli biopic.