According to CinemaBlend, a script by J. Michael Straczynski has been purchased by Dreamworks that will feature Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, famed author of the “Sherlock Holmes” series, and Harry Houdini, famed magician and illusionist, solving crimes together–along with the help of a psychic in New York City

According to the article, the friendship is interesting enough without the fictionalized account of a psychic helping them solve crimes. According to the article, Doyle eventually became convinced Houdini was blessed with supernatural powers, and Houdini became annoyed at Doyle for suggesting to the magician’s crowds that Houdini had magical powers, thus spending the rest of his life railing against spiritualism, something Doyle believed heavily in. If this story is true, as the article states it is, then this would be pretty awesome to see as a biopic.

Doyle has always been a hot commodity, what with the infinite versions of his character, Sherlock Holmes, in film (ex.–the upcoming “Sherlock Holmes 2”) and television (ex.– BBC’s “Sherlock”) and even video games (ex.–“Sherlock Holmes: The Mystery of the Mummy” for the Nintendo DS and DS Lite), but now it would seem that the fame Sherlock has is extending to the author himself.

However, even though we don’t know who will play what character yet, I’m fairly certain that the psychic will be a woman, because it’s not an action-adventure-buddy film without a woman in the mix (I’m assuming it’ll be action-adventure; it’ll certainly be a buddy film). And just how will they cast actors for Doyle and Houdini, Doyle especially? If I’m remembering pictures of the man correctly, Doyle was never an extremely fit man. Maybe the story will be similar to Miss Marple stories; she was an old woman in the midst of action, and she held up fairly well. Oh well.

Harry Houdini
Harry Houdini

By Monique Jones

Monique Jones blogs about race and culture in entertainment, particularly movies and television. You can read her articles at Racialicious, and her new site, COLOR . You can also listen to her new podcast, What would Monique Say.

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