Jonathan Rhys Meyers to play Mandrake the Magician
In an interesting bit of casting, Jonathan Rhys Meyers (The Tudors) will star in Omega Entertainment and Baldwin Entertainment Group’s Mandrake, based on the comic strip created by Lee Falk.
Chuck Russell (The Scorpion King, The Mask) will direct the film, which is set to shoot next year in China and the United States. Criss Angel reportedly has a role in the picture.
Mandrake the Magician debuted in newspapers 1934, and stars a tuxedo-clad stage illusionist who battles crime with his hypnotic abilities. The strip spawned comic books, radio and movie serials, a TV movie, and a co-starring role in an animated series.
Although nowhere near as popular as it was in the 1930s and ’40s, the King Features strip still appears in newspapers.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film will update the comic and feature a Mandrake who is “an extreme escape artist embroiled in international espionage.”
Spider-Man 4 gets a new screenwriter
EW.com’s Hollywood Insider blog reports that James Vanderbilt, the writer behind David Fincher’s Zodiac and the upcoming adaptation of The Losers, has been hired to pen Spider-Man 4.
It’s not known whether Sam Raimi will return to direct the fourth installment, which is set for release in 2009.
October 31st, 2007 at 7:32 am
I await the casting of Lothar (and the related offense and overreaction) with bated breath
October 31st, 2007 at 8:35 am
Nice! Rhys Meyers was in one of my all time favorites, Velvet Goldmine. This should be good.
October 31st, 2007 at 8:40 am
Rhys Meyers was great in Gormenghast, a long time ago.
Fun casting.
October 31st, 2007 at 1:22 pm
Michael Clarke Duncan as Lothar…and he should be dressed in a tux as well….”’cause we’re identical twins and no one can tell us apart….”
October 31st, 2007 at 1:52 pm
Chris Angel apperantly is Mandrake according to some articles I found. No idea who Jonathan Ryes Myers is playing. But wowsers! I SOO didn’t see this coming. Maybe they’ll make a Defenders of the Earth movie next?
October 31st, 2007 at 2:46 pm
Hmm… Interesting.
Might turn out well.. might not.
He looks a bit too boyish to me tho, to be the master-magician, but we’ll see.
October 31st, 2007 at 3:00 pm
“Chris Angel apperantly is Mandrake according to some articles I found. No idea who Jonathan Ryes Myers is playing.
Rhys Meyers is playing Mandrake.
January 17th, 2011 at 12:39 pm
The next time I learn a blog, I hope that it doesnt disappoint me as much as this one. I imply, I know it was my choice to read, however I truly thought youd have something attention-grabbing to say. All I hear is a bunch of whining about something that you may fix for those who werent too busy in search of attention.