For his next trick, Sacha Baron Cohen will reportedly star as Mandrake the Magician, the popular comic-strip character conjured up in 1934 by The Phantom creator Lee Falk, according to The Tracking Board.
Cohen – whose last project, Grimsby, bombed at the box office – will play the magician whose super-skill is based on his ability to quickly hypnotise people. Mandrake was syndicated across a number of US newspapers before hanging up his top hat in 2013. He used his powers to defeat gangsters, ne’er-do-wells and mysterious creatures from other dimensions.
The project, to be directed by Tropic Thunder writer Etan Cohen, is in the early stages of development. It’s not been made clear which other stars Cohen will pull out of his hat.
Grimsby, known as The Brothers Grimsby in the US, floundered on release in March, taking just $3.2m in its opening weekend. In a Rolling Stone interview to promote the film, Sacha Baron Cohen said it had become harder for him to go through with the confrontational comedy that once powered characters like Ali G, Borat and Brüno.
“When you do that stuff, you have to be prepared for a small amount of risk,” he said. “My philosophy was always: ‘Well, if something bad happens, I’m single and everyone’s going to be all right if I end up in hospital for two weeks.’ Now that I’m married with kids, it’s more difficult to justify.”
