From Italian westerns… to superheroes? Sergio Leone, known for his Dollar trilogy with Clint Eastwood or Once Upon a Time in America, wanted to adapt a superhero adventure to the big screen: Phantom!
Ფantomi (The Phantom or Bengal Phantom in French) is an American comic book character, created in 1936 by Ray Moore for drawing and Lee Falk for the screenplay, to which we are also indebted. Mandrake the witch. The Phantom is dressed in purple, has a black mask over his eyes, like Zoro, and lives in the fictional country of Bengal, Africa.
The Phantom acts as a precursor, as he appeared during the first superhero wave. He fights crime by night without superpowers and lives as a rich playboy by day. This will definitely remind you BatmanBut Phantom came out three years before the Dark Knight’s first adventure!
Later, the Phantom’s origin story would be changed to take inspiration from jungle myth and make the character a supposedly immortal hero.
The Phantom was made into a feature film in 1943 starring Tom Tyler (who also played Captain Marvel), and he appeared in the animated series Defenders of the Earth, teaming up with Mandrake and Flash Gordon.
The Mandrake and the Phantom
In the late 70s, Leone was approached to direct the movie Flash Gordon, a project that never saw the light of day because the director didn’t like the script, and years later it was him. Contact Lee Falk To discuss the adaptation of the Phantom as the author remembered it:
Sergio Leone wanted to make a Phantom movie. I met him in Mexico, he was a huge guy. He just loved everything and wanted to make a jungle movie with pygmies. We met again at his Roman house, but he died and did nothing.
Legend has it that Leone began writing and set up locations, but despite this progress, the project never materialized, even in different hands. Too bad for the fans, because after Phantom, the Italian director wanted to continue the adventures of Mandrake!
Instead, fans were able to discover the film Ghost of Bengal, released in 1996 starring Billy Zane. We could also see Catherine Zeta-Jones, Treat Williams, Christy Swanson, Patrick McGoohan and James Remar.
Despite all the good will of director Simon Winsor, a fan of the character since childhood, the feature film flopped at the box office, mainly because the main character was one-dimensional and rather bland. To give it a first or second chance, head over to Paramount+ where the film is available.
In 2009, actor Ryan Karnes (Central Hospital) played the character for a two-episode miniseries (running for a total of 3 hours), but he was completely overlooked.
During the era of the superhero boom in film and television, not a single project has been announced to bring the character to life.
Source: Allocine
Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.
