Famed magician Houdini’s life will once again be explored on the big-screen, as Reuters reports that Summit Entertainment has picked up the film rights to The Secret Life of Houdini, a 2006 biography of the famed man written by William Kalush and Larry Sloman.

The book was best known for implying that Harry Houdini acted as a spy for Britain and was asked to be an adviser to Czar Nicholas II’s court in pre-revolutionary Russia. It also portrayed the illusionist as a debunker of con artists who pretended to be spiritualists, leading to the theory that his death was caused by spiritual movement as payback.

Summit is looking to turn the book into an action thriller that could lead to a potential franchise.