Previously, on Filmstalker, I talked about the Mandrake comic being adapted for film, well now it seems as though there's an actor involved, and he's a magician to boot.

Criss Angel is an illusionist who has his own show called Mindfreak, recently he was seen playing a role in CSI: Las Vegas and that seems to have helped catapault him onto the silver screen and this mystical magician character.

In an interview over at TV Blend through Coming Soon he says that he's been cast as Mandrake, and he's also designing the visual effects for the film.

Although I don't know much about Angel, I did see him in the episode of CSI just the other night, and he's not a bad actor. What is interesting is his commitment to the side of magic and illusion, he really does seem to want to get it right.

He says that normally magic hasn't translated very well into storytelling and film, but that Mandrake really does understand this.

Being involved from the beginning in the creation of the script, and of the characters and effects, really gives me an opportunity to work with the director to make sure that it’s really seamless with how they coexist and work hand in hand, and how one supports the other and it’s not contrived and it’s not cheesy. So, I’m really excited about Mandrake and I’m hoping that they’ll get it right better than anyone’s gotten it yet.

We already heard that Chuck Russell is set to direct the story of the dangerous magician that the CIA recruit, and with a strong illusionist on board it sounds like this could be an interesting film with real practical magic instead of CGI scenes. Now that does sound like an fresh take, let's hope they stick to it.