SACHA BARON COHEN has a brand-new bag of tricks.

    The comedian, who earlier this year starred in the flop “The Brothers Grimsby,” is attached to star and produce “Mandrake the Magician,” an adaptation of the classic comic strip set up at Warner Bros.

    Etan Cohen, the “Tropic Thunder” writer who made his directorial debut with “Get Hard,” is attached to helm the project, which would be produced by Charles Roven’s Atlas Entertainment.

    The project is in early development with the script still to be written.

    Created as a newspaper comic strip by Lee Falk in 1934, Mandrake told of the adventures of an illusionist who had the power to hypnotize his foes at great speed. With his companion Lothar, an African strongman, he fought evildoers ranging from gangsters to masters of disguise to aliens. Mandrake also had a twin brother who used his power for evil instead of good.

    First appearing in newspapers in 1934, Mandrake the Magician is a hypnotist and illusionist who travels the world and fights crime with the assistance of the African prince Lothar, one of the world’s strongest men. Widely regarded as one of the first comic-strip superheroes, Mandrake was a staple of newspaper comic pages right up until 2013, when it ended its run.

    Mandrake’s adventures were previously adapted for the screen in 1939’s “Mandrake, the Magician,” starring Warren Hull as the title character. There was also a 1954 television movie featuring Coe Norton as Mandrake.

    Warners picked up the rights to the character in 2012, hoping to do what Disney as well as Baldwin Entertainment and Hyde Park tried and failed to do for years earlier — develop it as a movie.

    The report on the upcoming film indicates that Mandrake and his adventures will be updated for the 21st century, and involve the U.S. Government recruiting Mandrake for a secret mission. The project has been in development for quite a while now, with “The Tudors” actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers previously attached to the lead role.

    Cohen is already set to write and direct a reboot of “Cannonball Run” for Warners and will develop this concurrently.

    Cohen currently co-stars in “Alice Through the Looking Glass.” “Grimsby” was one of the year’s first flops, opening to only US$3.2 million when it was released March 11.(SD-Agencies)