A series of three features drawing from the life of pioneering electrical engineer and inventor Nikola Tesla is in development at Showdog Studio. The project will be co-written by Tim Eaton, a visual effects veteran whose credits include “Men in Black,” “Twister” and “Beowulf.”
The banner has optioned the rights for the 1996 biography “Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla” and the 2021 biography “Tesla: Wizard at War,” as well as various other research by the author of both works, Marc J. Seifer. Seifer also co-wrote the films with Eaton. Showdog also shares that it has received access to various other letters and artifacts from Tesla’s life.
“We are proud to be working with Marc and Tim and believe they will be a strong vehicle through which we can explore how, in a world increasingly influenced by technology and its misuse, Tesla’s very human story about the burden of genius is a timely and cautionary tale we can learn from,” Showdog founder John Attard said in a statement. Attard and Showdog executive Robert Harris will serve as executive producers on the trilogy.
“When people hear the word ‘Tesla’ today, there is a good chance that their first thought is of the automotive company of the same name,” Harris said. “What isn’t evident is just how influential Nikola Tesla was in shaping the future and the cost it took from a man that was as complex as he was a genius. This is a human story about the sheer weight of greatness in a world that wishes to exploit it and there are so many stories to tell about an extraordinary figure whose career and life had so many twists and turns.”
