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It turns out that Sci Fi Network’s revamp of “The Phantom” isn’t the only classic Lee Falk comic currently bouncing around a production workshop. Anakin Skywalker himself, Hayden Christensen, has now been announced as the lead in Mimi Leder’s “Mandrake,” based on Falk’s slightly less famous strip “Mandrake the Magician.”

The movie, co-starring Djimon Hounsou, will follow Christensen’s character, an “underground magician and escapologist” who is approached by the CIA to do some work after “a daring escape from an SUV that has been dropped out of an plane at the Burning Man Festival,” according to SuperHeroHype.com. Hounsou will presumably be taking on the role of Mandrake’s assistant, Lothar.

Mandrake and Lothar will be a familiar characters to any watchers of the 1986 cartoon series “Defenders of the Earth,” which starred the pair alongside Flash Gordon and The Phantom.

The top-hatted hero — and possibly his sidekick — will be tasked with breaking a deep-cover agent named Xi Shing Lung out from a heavily fortified prison in the new movie, and according to the film’s synopsis they’ll have to do it Jack Bauer-style with a 24-hour deadline. Everything, of course, will turn out to not be as it seems, and Mandrake will end up finding himself at odds with a government agency gone rotten.

Leder takes over the director’s seat which was previously reported to be filled by “Scorpion King” director Chuck Russell a couple of years ago.

Hayden Christensen (Jumper, “Star Wars” prequels) and Djimon Hounsou (Blood Diamond, Amistad) will star in Mandrake, the adaptation of Lee Falk’s comic strip “Mandrake the Magician.”

Mimi Leder (Deep Impact, The Peacemaker) will directed the film, written by Josh Oppenheimer and Thomas Dean Donnelly, JV Hart, and Ian Jeffers. The film is based on an original story by Kevin Bernhardt.

In the film, Jackson Mandrake lives life on the edge. Working as an underground magician and escapologist, his act has grown increasingly dangerous. Following a daring escape from an SUV that has been dropped out of an plane at the Burning Man Festival, he is coerced by the CIA into breaking a deep-cover agent named Xi Shing Lung out of a maximum security jail. Hypnosis, contortion, distraction and technical wizardry all come into play as Mandrake breaks the agent out from the inside within a 24-hour deadline.

But back on the outside, Mandrake learns that it was all a set-up. Xi is a CIA agent gone bad. He offers Mandrake the chance to join his crime ring. When Mandrake refuses, he’s a marked man. He must escape his would-be-killers and also the real CIA who accuse him of being in league with Xi. His quest to clear his name leads him into all sorts of dangers, which he must overcome with daredevil escapes that require all his conjuring skills. And along the way, Mandrake is forced to confront his past and the girl he left behind… Source

‘Mandrake the Magician’ has been one of those projects that’s been in play for a long time and seen many false starts and backslides.

Today comes the stealth announcement that the project is once again showing signs of life.

We’ve learned that Mimi Leder (‘The Peacemaker’, ‘Deep Impact’) is now on board to direct the movie, which will star Hayden Crhistensen (‘Star Wars’) and Djimon Hounsou (‘Push’) as Mandrake and Lothar respectively.

Although the movie is based on Lee Falk’s classic comic strip, the fleet of screenwriters on the project (including Josh Oppenheimer, Thomas Dean Donnelly, JV Hart, Ian Jeffers and Kevin Bernhardt) have tweaked and modernized the concept considerably.

Here’s the description of the film:

“Jackson Mandrake lives life on the edge. Working as an underground magician and escapologist, his act has grown increasingly dangerous. Following a daring escape from an SUV that has been dropped out of an aeroplane at the Burning Man Festival, he is coerced by the CIA into breaking a deep-cover agent named Xi Shing Lung out of a maximum security jail. Hypnosis, contortion, distraction and technical wizardry all come into play as Mandrake breaks the agent out from the inside within a 24-hour deadline.

“But back on the outside, Mandrake learns that it was all a set-up. Xi is a CIA agent gone bad. He offers Mandrake the chance to join his crime ring. When Mandrake refuses, he’s a marked man. He must escape his would-be-killers and also the real CIA who accuse him of being in league with Xi. His quest to clear his name leads him into all sorts of dangers, which he must overcome with daredevil escapes that require all his conjuring skills. And along the way, Mandrake is forced to confront his past and the girl he left behind… ”

The film will be produced by China’s Tiger8 Production along with Omega Productions, Inc. Source

First project to be directed by Mimi Leder

China’s Tiger 8 Media and Wuxi Jinyuan Industry Investment and Development Co. closed its Tiger Portfolio Film Fund (TPF), a revolving $150 million production fund that’s primarily aimed at films to be made in China.

The Chinese city of Wuxi invested $50 million in equity and a private Chinese investor contributed gap financing. The debt facility was arranged by Standard Chartered Bank Hong Kong.

TPF’s first pic is a project formerly known as “Mandrake.” Pic, to be helmed by Mimi Leder and written by Kevin Bernhardt, will now be a more modern action-adventure that is no longer based on comicstrip character Mandrake the Magician.

Thesps Hayden Christensen and Djimon Hounsou are in negotiations to board the untitled film, which will lense in the mountain area of Shangri-la and in studios in Beijing.

Warner Bros. is in final negotiations for the domestic rights to the pic.

Producers include Howard and Karen Baldwin and Ashok Amritraj.

TPF is run by Justin Ackerman, Markus Barmettler and Sophie Xu. Omega Entertainment, headed by Peter Rogers and Tom Daniels, will handle TPF’s foreign and domestic sales.

Fund has a $300 million capacity for co-financing and could invest in some 16 films over five years.

“It is the first time Chinese and other investors have joined forces on a motion picture fund of this magnitude,” said Barmettler.

Warner’s distribution proxy Dan Feldman said he expects to “participate in TPF’s and Omega’s significant flow of upcoming productions.”

TPF will open offices in China and Los Angeles and is also involved with the development of a studio facility in the heart of Wuxi. The studios are part of China’s clear air initiatives to bring movie production and other industries to the Yangtze Triangle Region. Source