Wallace confirmed for THE ARCANUM

As listed on the original pre-strike list last month, Braveheart screenwriter and the director of The Man in the Iron Mask and We Were Soldiers (Randall Wallace) will direct the fantasy film adaptation of The Arcanum for Gold Circle says The Hollywood Reporter. The movie which was picked up by the studio on turnaround from Miramax in June is set in 1919 and follows a secret society of the early 20th century leading occult investigators €” Arthur Conan Doyle, Harry Houdini, H.P. Lovecraft and Marie Laveau €” as they battle demons descending on New York City, including a serial killer of angels. The movie is based on a Thomas Wheeler novel of the same name.

Of course visions of how The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen was screwed up so badly four years ago immediately comes to mind here, as the idea behind both movies are a little similar. I really love this type of fiction. There's some pretty huge figures and characters in there and so many avenues to explore. This movie could so easily go wrong but if they get it right... it could be fantastic. So many movies fail at the first concept hurdle and this one has a great one... no excuses if this one fails. As it's pre-strike, production will have to begin on the movie shortly but the trade say Wallace wants a polish on all aspects of the movie first.