Warner Bros. has acquired the rights to Mandrake the Magician, the vintage property created as a comic strip in 1934 by Lee Falk, who also created The Phantom.  Mandrake hasn’t made it to the big screen since Columbia Pictures released a 12-episode serial in 1939, though there was a Mandrake TV movie in the 70s.  The charismatic protagonist of the comic is an illusionist with the ability to hypnotize people almost instantaneously.  In addition to his sidekick, the African strongman Lothar, Mandrake also has an evil twin brother.

 

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. is looking to “give the character a 21st Century makeover, the same way it did for Sherlock Holmes.”  The studio, which is producing the film with Atlas Entertainment, is currently looking for a writer.

 

Warners is not the first studio to express an interest in the Mandrake the Magician property.  Disney had the rights for a time, and Hyde Park Entertainment has attempted to mount versions in recent years with a number of big names attached including director Chuck Russell and actors Hayden Christensen and Jonathan Rhys Meyers.  Atlas acquired the rights in 2009 and has evidently found the partner it wants in Warner Bros.