Sacha Baron Cohen to play classic comic character Mandrake the Magician
The star of "Ali G", "Bruno" and "Borat" is set to put his spin on the Lee Falk comic character.
Sacha Baron Cohen, possible magician.
Sacha Baron Cohen is set to don the formal attire and top hat of Mandrake the Magician in an upcoming film adaptation of the classic '30s comic strip character, The Tracking Board is reporting.
In the original comic strip, created by Lee Falk (of The Phantom fame), Mandrake was an illusionist, escape artist and hypnotist that travelled the world, using his skills to solve mysteries and summarily deal with people who had a less rigid moral compass. Reports say that the upcoming film will feature an updated version of the character, who will be recruited by the United States government for a secret mission.
A Mandrake movie has been caught in development hell for some time, with stars Hayden Christensen and Jonathan Rhys Meyers previously attached. Warner Bros.' latest attempt at bringing the classic character to the big screen is helmed by director Etan Cohen, who has writing credits on "Tropic Thunder" and "Idiocracy," and is directing the "Cannonball Run" remake.
The news comes hot on the heels of an announcement last week that Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson was set to play the Man of Bronze, Doc Savage, yet another classic comic strip character. So start counting the seconds until a Phantom reboot is announced.