Mandrake The Magician Casting

Mandrake has long been a favorite character of mine. I didn't know that his strip still ran though, very interesting. I first ran across the character in Jules Pieffer's book The Comic Book Heroes as a kid.

I hope hope hope that this movie doesn't suck.

In an interesting bit of casting, Jonathan Rhys Meyers (The Tudors) will star in Omega Entertainment and Baldwin Entertainment Group’s Mandrake, based on the comic strip created by Lee Falk.

Chuck Russell (The Scorpion King, The Mask) will direct the film, which is set to shoot next year in China and the United States. Criss Angel reportedly has a role in the picture.

Mandrake the Magician debuted in newspapers 1934, and stars a tuxedo-clad stage illusionist who battles crime with his hypnotic abilities. The strip spawned comic books, radio and movie serials, a TV movie, and a co-starring role in an animated series.

Although nowhere near as popular as it was in the 1930s and '40s, the King Features strip still appears in newspapers.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film will update the comic and feature a Mandrake who is 'an extreme escape artist embroiled in international espionage.'