Source: Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
With the recent success of The Illusionist and The Prestige you knew Harvey and Bob Weinstein couldn’t resist obtaining their own “magical” project.
The Weinstein Co. has acquired all U.S. distribution rights to Gillian Armstrong’s fictionalized Harry Houdini biopic Death Defying Acts, which it plans to unveil at the Cannes Film Festival next May.
The Australian-U.K. co-production chronicles the tumultuous love affair between the famed magician (Guy Pearce) and a psychic (Catherine Zeta-Jones) who tries to con him by holding a seance to contact his dead mother.
A source close to the film said the studio is conjuring up some $5.5 million for Death Defying, which was produced for less than $20 million. It also is shelling out some $500,000 for China, Thailand, Argentina, Hong Kong, Chile and other territories.
The film just wrapped principal photography and is now in postproduction. The Weinstein Co. hopes to roll out the film next fall after a World Premiere at Cannes.
