Part 1 of the series was watched by 3.7 million viewers, averaging 1.2 million among adults 18–49 and 1.5 million in 25–54. In the final years of his life, Harry promises Bess no more death-dying feats and goes back to stage magic before succumbing to a succession of fatal blows to the abdomen from a disgruntled fan while backstage in his dressing room after performing his last act in Detroit. He then dedicates his life exposing and debunking these fake spiritualists, including Arthur Conan Doyle's wife, Lady Doyle. When his mother dies, Harry is determined to communicate with her through mediums and clairvoyants, however, they prove to be unsuccessful. As the invention of moving pictures threatens to steal Harry's spotlight in 1914, he has to come up with bigger and better escapes to get his audience back, and decides to bring the show to them. Harry Houdini must adapt to the constantly changing modern world as the industrial age comes to an end. But through his fame, Harry is recruited by MI5 to run espionage missions with William Melville to spy on the Kaiser in Berlin while balancing his death-defying acts in front of massive audiences. He becomes the world-famous master magician 'The Great Houdini'. His career soon takes off on the American vaudeville circuit as a master illusionist before achieving international fame as an escape artist, performing for the likes of royalty and celebrities. He changes his name to 'Harry Houdini' after his favorite magician Robert Houdin and starts out performing card tricks at sideshows in a traveling circus with his wife Bess as a 'two-bit' act. The humble beginnings of Harry Houdini as a young boy named Erich Weiss, who enlists his brother Dash to help him practice magic after seeing his very first magician in his hometown of Appleton, Wisconsin. Rather than compose a period score for the series, Debney instead elected to write an 'electronic/contemporary' score, with 'instruments from the period that would give you the flavor of the times and give you the feeling of who this guy was.' A two volume soundtrack was released for digital download by Lakeshore Records on Aug and later on CD September 23, 2014.Ī trailer for Houdini was released online in early August 2014. A lifelong fan of Harry Houdini, Debney joined the project at the behest of a producer with whom he had previously collaborated on the A&E miniseries Bonnie & Clyde. The score to Houdini was written by the veteran film composer John Debney. Abrams described as having 'more turn-of-the-century architecture-that's the 19th century-than almost any city in Western culture.' Brody, who had studied magic as a child, performed many of the show's stunts himself, including the suspended strait jacket escape and the famous Chinese Water Torture Cell. It was shot entirely in Budapest, Hungary (coincidentally the real Harry Houdini's birthplace), which executive producer Gerald W. Filming įilming on the miniseries began on September 30, 2013. On September 17, 2013, it was announced that actor Evan Jones had been added to the cast as Houdini's assistant Jim Collins. Patrizia von Brandenstein and Karl Walter Lindenlaub were also announced as production designer and cinematographer, respectively. The screenplay was to be penned by veteran author and filmmaker Nicholas Meyer, based on the 1976 book Houdini: A Mind in Chains: A Psychoanalytic Portrait by his father, Bernard C. The series was officially green-lit on August 19, 2013, with Kristen Connolly announced as Brody's co-star and Uli Edel as director. History first announced the development of a Houdini biopic miniseries with Adrien Brody attached to star on April 10, 2013. Linda Marlowe as Lady Doyle, Arthur Conan Doyle's clairvoyant wife.David Calder as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes and believer in spiritualism.Shaun Williamson as Sidney Reilly, MI5 agent and Harry's handler.Tim Pigott-Smith as William Melville - Head of MI5.Louis Mertens as Erich Weiss (young Harry).Tom Benedict Knight as Dash Houdini, Harry's younger brother.Eszter Ónodi as Cecilia Weiss, Harry's mother.Evan Jones as Jim Collins, Harry's assistant.

Kristen Connolly as Bess Houdini, Harry's wife.

Adrien Brody as Harry Houdini, world-famous magician.

The drama will chronicle the life of a man who can defy death through his stunts, his visions and his mastery of illusion. The miniseries follows the man behind the magic as he finds fame, engages in espionage, battles spiritualists and encounters the greatest names of the era.

The series stars Adrien Brody as Harry Houdini and features the life of the legendary illusionist and escape artist from poverty to worldwide fame. Houdini is a two-part, four-hour History channel miniseries written by Nicholas Meyer and directed by Uli Edel.

Houdini on magic