Unproduced and Unfinished Films

Marcello Mastroianni
Country:	Italy / Italian USA / English

Several times there have been plans to carry Mandrake the Magician on to the screen. But the adaptation of the iconic newspaper comic strip never got beyond initial talks.

1960's

The first International Exhibition of Comics (Salone Internazionale dei Comics) was held in Bordighera Italy, February 21 to March 2 1965. The Comics Convention was dedikated to the memory of Phil Davis and was organized by "Istituto di Pedagogia dell'Università di Roma" and headed by the legendary Professor Luigi Volpicelli.

The congress (the 21st and 22th) was attended by eminent culture personalities such as Alain Resnais, Federico Fellini, Umberto Eco, Alberto Giordano, Evelyne Sullerot, Roberto Giammanco, Fausto Antonini, Francis Lacassin and a court of fans. Among the comic artist were Lee Falk, Al Capp, David Pascal and Alfred Andriola.

In mid 1965 the Italian director Duccio Tessari (considered one of the fathers of spaghetti westerns) announced in a press release that he was going to England soon. To try to find an actor to cast Mandrake in his movie based on the adventures of the comic strip magician. Tessai wrote the script himself.

1970's

While Fedrico Fellini shooting scenes for "Fellinis Roma" at Villa Borghese in 1971 Lee Falk came by for a visit. He was sent by Dino De Laurentiis, who was contriving to have Fellini direct a film about the famous magician of comics. When Robert F. Caillé, the director of French Vogue, offered Fellini the role as editor of the special issue of December 1972 Fellini made a homorous photography portfolio with Mandrake. The Maestro Fellini depicts Marcello Mastroianni in the role of Mandrake and Claudia Cardinale as Narda.

Fellini did not succeed making a Mandrake movie, but he never gave up his hope to make a movie with the magician.

An Alain Delon project with himself and Cassius Clay as Lothar.

In an interview with Sergio Leone, who had a project on a Phantom movie (he started to write a screenplay and to scout locations), he declared that he would have liked to follow it with a Mandrake movie.

1980's

Movie Poster

In the magazine Variety of May 7, 1980 on pages 280-281 there was an add:

"Mandrake the Magician, comming to life, on film, Cinema Art Associates, Production, in association with, King Features, Producer Eric Rochat, Contact in Cannes, tel: 00.00.00, telex Paris: 000000".

Embassy Pictures picked up the idea, commissioning a screenplay by Julien Temple, who imagined David Bowie in the lead. Dissatisfied with Temple’s approach, Embassy hired Michael Almereyda to do a complete rewrite in 1982, but a new studio head dropped the project before a director was attached.

A few years later William Hjortsberg scripted a screenplay for Goldcrest Films, Bob Swaim was to direct the film in fall 1985 starring Kevin Kline as Mandrake.

Late 80s Penta America worked on a project with Bruce Willis and Mike Tyson.

In the freewheeling 1987 autobiographical film "L'Intervista" with Fedrico Fellini, Mastroianni appears outside the office window dressed like Mandrake the Magician, waving a wand.

2000's

In 2002 Hyde Park Entertainment and Crusader Entertainment bought a Mandrake script written by Josh Oppenheimer and Tom Donnelly. This movie was to be produced by Ashok Armitraj and Howard Baldwin.

Sources

• Kezich Tullio, Federico Fellini: His Life and Work, 2007, 305

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