Starring in planned Mandrake the Magician movie

Sacha Baron Cohen is set to star in a movie based on the comic strip Mandrake the Magician.

The Borat star is attached to star in the film, which is said to be at an early stage of development at Warner Bros.

Created as a newspaper comic strip bin 1934, Mandrake is an illusionist who can instantly hypnotise his foes at great speed, turn invisible, shapeshift, levitate and teleport. 

Nemeses included his twin brother, who had the unlikely supervillain name of Derek.

Previous attempts to bring the character to the screen have not been too successful.  Even Federico Fellini was said to want to make a Mandrake movie in the 1960s, but in never took off. Another attempt in the 1980s was dropped at script stage, and a 1953 TV pilot was not picked up. However it was a short-lived cinema serial 1939, and a TV movie in the 1970s.

Warner Bros picked up the rights to the character in 2012, and now has Tropic Thunder writer Etan Cohen – no relation – on board to direct. The script still to be written, according to reports in the Hollywood trade press.

Baron Cohen’s last film, The Brothers Grimsby, pictured, was considered a flop, taking just $3.2 million on its opening weekend in March.

Published: 8 Jun 2016