Now I know the comic character Mandrake by name, and it's a character that I think is a lot stronger than some of the comic characters coming to the cinema, so I wonder why it has taken until now for a film version to be announced?

Chuck Russell is set to direct the film version of the comic character. Russell previously directed such films as Eraser, The Mask and The Scorpion King, so there is a fair understanding of comic-type fantasy characters and bringing them successfully to life in a film.

The story from Clint over at Moviehole from Variety also manages to score a the blurb of the film version:

Jackson Mandrake has always lived life on the edge. Working as an underground magician, Mandrake’s act has grown far too dangerous. One fateful afternoon, a CIA agent approaches Mandrake and requests that the legendary magician help the CIA on a dangerous covert operation. Mandrake reluctantly agrees but soon finds himself caught up in an intricate web of deceit, fighting for his own survival from a brilliant criminal mastermind.

It's like a superhero film mixed with one of the recent magician movies we've been seeing, as much as I hate to make those kind of comparisons it's exactly what struck me about it. However is there a case of superhero fatigue out there, or is Mandrake an interesting arrival?