Director Simon Wincer cast Billy Zane, who had recently won praise for his work as a psychopath in Dead Calm, as the Phantom.
Zane, a fan of the comic strip after being introduced to it on the set of Dead Calm,[1] won the part after competition from Bruce Campbell and actor Kevin Smith.
Diana is here sent out by her uncle Dave, in the film a wealthy newspaper publisher, to Bangalla to help with the search of a fabled weapon of doom, the Skulls of Touganda.
Jon Tenney has a small part as Jimmy Wells, a wealthy playboy who appeared in a similar role in The Singh Brotherhood.
The film featured the Phantom in his attempt to stop madman Xander Drax (Treat Williams) from obtaining a weapon of doom, the legendary "Skulls of Touganda".
The more realistic plots of Lee Falk's original stories were dropped in favour of an adventure tale that featured the supernatural Skulls of Touganda.