Deadline is reporting that Max Landis has signed on to rewrite Scott Frank’s script for Sony’s Houdini. The film would tell the story of legendary illusionist, Harry Houdini, who passed away in 1926. Houdini was world-renowned for his abilities as an escape artist and illusionist, and Hollywood has been trying to mount a substantial film about his life for quite some time.

Landis, the son of director John Landis (Twilight Zone: The Movie), wrote the sleeper hit Chronicle, and has been in-demand ever since. He’s written a new adaptation of Frankenstein that’s set to star James McAvoy and Daniel Radcliffe, as well as American Ultra which will come out in 2015, starring Kristen Stewart and Jesse Eisenberg.

They’re not the only Houdini game in town, though, as Summit is currently working on their own film about the legend. Their film would be based off of William Kalush and Larry Sloman’s book, The Secret Life Of Houdini: The Making Of America’s First Superhero. Summit’s film would reportedly paint the master illusionist as a master spy.

SOURCE: Deadline