Tuesday, June 22, 2010

'Carter Beats The Devil' reappears at Warner Bros.

Carter and Houdini in 1910.
Deadline Hollywood reports that Warner Bros. has optioned Michael Glen David Gold’s Carter Beats The Devil for Jon Shestack to produce with Ginny Brewer and Jeremy Stein.

The site reports that the book was "a hot property when optioned for high six-figures in 2002 by Paramount for Cruise/Wagner, a time when Tom Cruise was intrigued with playing a magician. It was eclipsed by a different C/W-developed magic book, David Fisher’s The War Magician. Ultimately, nothing happened on either front."

Shestack had tried to option the novel when it first came out, and has followed the many failed attempts to turn it into a movie at other studios. "I’ve been trying to get Warner Bros. to buy it since the day it came out and that it’s finally happened is enough to make me believe in magic," Shestack says.

Michael Gilio has been hired to write the script.

The superb 2001 novel features Houdini in a small but significant role as Carter’s inspiration and mentor. Here's hoping Carter can beat Development Hell!

Photo of Charles Carter and Houdini in Sydney Australia (1910) courtesy of Kevin Connolly HoudiniHimself.com.

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