On 2/13/2011 5:34 PM, Jan wrote:
> For those who may not keep up via other sites, JMS has had a couple of pretty
> exciting announcements lately.
>
> First is that he's optioned Harlan Ellison's short story '"Repent,
Harlequin!"
> Said the Ticktockman" and written the screenplay of it.  I gather it's been
sent
> out to producers and directors a couple of weeks ago.
>
> Next was the news that DreamWorks has bought his spec script "Voices from the
> Dead" about Arthur Conan Doyle and Harry Houdini joining forces to solve some
> murders.
> http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/blogs/heat-vision/dreamworks-
uys-j-michael-straczynskis-97732
> Despite radically different views of spiritualism, the two were friends for a
> time and the story is set then.
>
>> From the sounds of things several other entities, including the SyFy
channel are
> developing Doyle/Houdini projects.  In the SyFy one they seem to be teamed
with
> a female cop.  In the 1920's???  I don't think so!
>

When I first heard about the Syfy project, I wondered if The Asylum was 
involved - they make a number of the "mockbuster" copycat films and the 
shlock monster movies that have been shockingly hot for Syfy lately.

They don't appear to be involved (they don't do series anyways), and it 
does at this point appear like it is a legitimate case of parallel 
development. Arthur Conan Doyle has been brought into the forefront with 
renewed interest in Sherlock Holmes, given the movies and series, and it 
was probably a case of how they could create something that wasn't 
Holmes but related.

Seems they want to inject some level of steampunk into it, another 
common theme of some of Syfy's recent efforts.

-Brian
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