Phil Lord and Chris Miller are kind of a big deal right now. The directing duo made a splash with the animated Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, but proved themselves more than just a one-trick pony by scoring one of the year's biggest hits in 21 Jump Street. For their next trick, they'll tackle a film that's been in the works for years, and once had Tom Cruise circling the lead role.
They're now in talks to direct Carter Beats the Devil, based on a completely fictional adventure story about real life magician, Charles Carter aka Carter the Great. The film is based on the book by Glen David Gold, which combines historical pieces of truth surrounding the 1920s entertainer but spins them off into a wild story involving the death of President Warren G. Harding. Other notable figures appear in the book, including the Marx Brothers and Harry Houdini. Think Sherlock Holmes meets National Treasure and you've got a pretty good idea of the book's vibe.
The question now is whether or not this will actually happen. It's been a decade of trying to get this project off the ground in various forms, including a failed TV series, and nothing has happened yet. Miller and Lord will be tied up for awhile, producing the Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs sequel, and developing their big screen LEGO™ movie, due out in 2014. [THR]
