Variety is reporting that veteran director Chuck Russell (The Mask) has been signed to direct a live action adventure film based on Lee Falk's comic strip Mandrake the Magician.  The Mandrake film is one of four projects announced by Baldwin Entertainment, which has received financial backing for the four projects from the Swiss-based Omega Entertainment.

Industry insiders will remember that Chuck Russell was once attached to direct a film version of the CrossGen comic, Way of the Rat (see 'CrossGen Movies on Tap'), a project that Variety once described as one of Hollywood's 'ten hottest' in development, so even with financing in place, there is no certainty that the Mandrake film will end up on the big screen anytime soon.

Created in 1934 for the Hearst newspapers, Falk's Mandrake has the power to hypnotize anyone almost instantly, communicate telepathically and read minds.  His sidekick Lothar, Prince of the Seven Nations, supplied the muscle and was one of the first black crimefighters to appear on the comics pages.