Spec Script Sale: “Voices from the Dead”
DreamWorks buys spec period thriller “Voices from the Dead” written by J. Michael Straczynski. Per THR:
The thriller delves into the real-life relationship between magician Harry Houdini and Sherlock Holmes creator Arthur Conan Doyle.
Houdini and Doyle, who was a leading Spiritualist at the time, met in 1920 and became friends for a while despite long-running arguments about the existence of the supernatural. Doyle included a chapter in his book The Edge of the Unknown that claimed that Houdini had psychic powers, while Houdini often used his acts to debunk fraudulent claims about the spirit world.
Straczynski’s script creates a fictional account of the two teaming up with a psychic to solve a set of murders in 1920’s New York.
Straczynski is repped by CAA.
By my count, this is the 3rd spec script to sell in 2011.