"Houdini," the upcoming film about master illusionist and escape artist Harry Houdini, just found a new director.
Daniel Trachtenberg, who directed the JJ Abrams-produced film "10 Cloverfield Lane" is in talks to helm the long gestation project, Deadline reported. The biopic will be based on "The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of America's First Superhero" authored by William Klaush and Larry Sloman. The screenplay was penned by Noah Oppenheim, who also worked on the Natalie Portman-starred political drama, "Jackie."
The news comes two years after it was announced that actor Johnny Depp is in talks to play the titular role. At that time, "Red 2" director Dean Parisot was attached to helm the film. It's unclear if Depp is still doing the project after boarding the cast of JK Rowling's "Fantastic Beasts."
No official plot details and casting additions have been released.
Here's a synopsis of the source material, "The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of America's First Superhero":
Handcuff King. Escape Artist. International Superstar. Since his death eighty years ago, Harry Houdini's life has been chronicled in books, in film, and on television. Now, in this groundbreaking biography, renowned magic expert William Kalush and bestselling writer Larry Sloman team up to find the man behind the myth. Drawing from millions of pages of research, they describe in vivid detail the passions that drove Houdini to perform ever-more-dangerous feats, his secret life as a spy, and a pernicious plot to subvert his legacy.
The Secret Life of Houdini traces the arc of the master magician's life from desperate poverty to worldwide fame - his legacy later threatened by a group of fanatical Spiritualists led by esteemed British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Initiating the reader along the way into the arcane world of professional magic, Kalush and Sloman decode a life based on deception, providing an intimate and riveting portrayal of Houdini, the man and the legend
The official release date of "Houdini" is yet to be announced.