Many years ago, Rene Goscinny dreamed of committing Iznogoud to a live action film. At that time, his choice to play Iznogoud was French actor Louis de Funès. Unfortunately, this didn't end up happening since de Funès never agreed to play the part. And so the idea languished...

But in 2003, following the success of the live action Asterix and Obelix films in France, director Patrick Braoudé was given the chance to finally produce the first adaptation of Iznogoud to film. Initially, actor José Garcia was picked for the main part. But this soon fell to popular French comedy actor Michaël Youn instead, who immediately set about becoming Iznogoud. The popular actor Jacques Villeret was given the part of the Caliph. Filming commenced in 2004, and the film was released on February 9th, 2005. Visually lush and colorful, the film contained many elements of the original Iznogoud stories, along with some new elements of music, dance, and even a love story.

The film has now been released in a number of countries. With the international popularity of the film, perhaps we'll even see a sequel at some point. For fun, games, and information about the film, check the official website here.