Warner Bros. has picked up the rights to Mandrake The Magician, a pulp comics character from the comic strip created in 1934 by Lee Falk (The Phantom).
Mandrake, a specialist in hypnosis and illusion, uses his magical abilities to fight crime ranging from gangsters to masters of disguise to aliens, alongside Lothar, an African Prince and one of the strongest men in the world.
Falk soon gave the job of drawing the comic strip to artist Phil Davis, whilst continuing to write the storylines. After Davis death Falk recruited current artist Fred Fredericks.
Columbia Pictures made a 12-part serial in 1939, and a TV movie aired in 1979.
Atlas Entertainment, who had previously been developing a Mandrake project for a few years, actually had a script from 12 Monkeys screenwriters David and Janet Peoples.
But Warner Bros. is looking to update the character for modern audiences, ‘a 21st century makeover’ similar to their Sherlock Holmes.
The last time one of Falk’s creations, The Phantom, made it to the big screen analysts called it a box office fiasco.
Check out the trailer for a 2011 science fiction film, In Time starring Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried, based on one of Mandrake’s comic strips.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efNzhEKm3w4[/youtube]
Source: THR
This is AAAAAAAAAWWWWWWEEEEEEEESSSOOOOOOOOMMMMMMEEEEEEEEEE, few days back just i was surfing the net and thinking most of my favourite comics characters during my childhood are now coming on big screens.. i can truly see them hitting hard on the screen and said to myself why doesn’t someone bring the great master of magic and illusion to the big screen.. and now i see this WB did it… Thanks to WB… ill be waiting till i see someone dashing solving crime fighting villains as MANDRAKE