Variety is reporting Chuck Russell has been signed to direct the Mandrake movie based on the King Features Syndicate comic. The movie is being produced by Baldwin Entertainment Group.
From Wikipedia:
Mandrake was an illusionist whose work was based on an impossibly fast hypnotic technique. As the narrator informed us: “Mandrake gestured hypnotically” and the subject or subjects of this hypnosis would suddenly see a cane transformed in a bouquet of flowers or a cat into a tiger. Mandrake also worked against crooks and other bad guys in his spare time. This would include common gangsters, mad scientists and aliens from space. In their case, he would gesture hypnotically and they would see their guns change into snakes or red hot irons.
I’ve liked the concept of Mandrake since I first discovered him way back in the 70s, but I am wondering at what time period the movie will take place. Certain flicks like The Illusionist and The Prestige have something to do with this interest in period magicians, and I’m hoping this movie will remain true to the original.
LOL! Like that will happen!
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See, what happens is, Mandrake is thrown into prison for murder, see, and he has to break out using only a spoon and a map of Delaware and then bring the man who put him in jail (Flash Gordon, a crazy homeless veteran who hallucinated his career as a rocketship pilot) to justice.
David Goyer thinks it’s great, and they’re working on Jimmy Fallon to play Mandrake (with Horatio Sanz as Gordon…)
I thought this was a Rob Schneider vehicle about a pizza delivery guy who accidentally kills a stage magician with his car and ends up with a magic hat, which he abuses to make easy money and impress the hottie librarian he had a crush on in high school that used to date the star quarterback who owns the pizza place and makes the delivery boy’s life hell…
Wait…that idea is GOLD! I’ll call it…Magic Man! “Rob Schneider is durpa durpa durp in Durpa Durpa Durp…”
It’s interesting to me to see how much of Mandrake was taken whole cloth to create Zatara the magician…