Summit Entertainment who brought us the hit film “Twilight” has acquired the rights to the 2006 Harry Houdini biography “The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of America’s First Superhero,” written by William Kalush and Larry Sloman about the famous magician and escape artist.

The controversial book insinuates that Harry Houdini acted as a spy for Britain and was asked to be an adviser to Czar Nicholas II’s court in pre-revolution Russia. The book also implies that Houdini’s death is connected to payback from the then-popular spiritualist movement, as Houdini was also known as a debunker of con artists who pretended to be spiritualists and mediums.

Summit is not looking to make a biopic, according to The Hollywood Reporter, but rather an action franchise depicting the magician in an action-hero mold similar to Indiana Jones and Nicholas Cage’s Ben Franklin Gates in the “National Treasure” franchise.

The studio is currently looking for writers.

Summit president of production Erik Feig, along with senior vp production Geoff Shaevitz and creative executive Ashley Schlaifer, who brought the book to the studio, will oversee the project.

Gersh repped the authors in the deal.

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By Costa Koutsoutis (Source: The Hollywood Reporter)