Sequel To 'The Phantom' To Be Filmed In Australia

[Brian Damage]

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) — Fans of the skintight purple suit rejoice: the Phantom is back. An Australian production company on Monday announced it had secured the rights to "The Phantom Legacy," a follow-up to the 1996 film, "The Phantom," which starred Billy Zane as the masked hero who fights evil from his jungle headquarters.

The latest adaptation, which is expected to cost $87 million, will focus on "the Father/Son relationship, and what it means to be The Phantom," scriptwriter Tim Boyle said in a statement. "The film will be set in the present day and will deal with the concept of destiny."

Producer Bruce Sherlock, who also served as executive producer of the first Phantom movie, said the new film will be a marked improvement over its predecessor, which received mixed reviews.

"It has the makings of a blockbuster," Sherlock told The Associated Press. "There's some surprises that will thrill the Phantom fans worldwide." Sherlock's Sydney-based Sherlock Symington Productions won the rights to the film.

The movie will likely be shot entirely in Australia, with production set to begin within six to nine months, Sherlock said. Producers are in talks with several "top talent" Australian and American actors, Sherlock said. He declined to provide names.

The Phantom began as a daily newspaper comic strip by Lee Falk in 1936. The protagonist — alter ego Kit Walker — is the 21st in a family of men who have passed the task of fighting injustice onto their sons. The first Phantom took the job to avenge his father's death at the hands of pirates.