Relativity Media today released the first official trailer for The Raven. The film, directed by James McTeigue (V for Vendetta) stars John Cusack, Luke Evans, Alice Eve, Brendan Gleeson and Oliver Jackson-Cohen.

Watch below:

In this gritty thriller, Edgar Allen Poe (John Cusack) joins forces with a young Baltimore detective (Luke Evans) to hunt down a mad serial killer who’s using Poe’s own works as the basis in a string of brutal murders.

When a mother and daughter are found brutally murdered in 19th century Baltimore, Detective Emmett Fields (Luke Evans) makes a startling discovery: the crime resembles a fictional murder described in gory detail in the local newspaper—part of a collection of stories penned by struggling writer and social pariah Edgar Allan Poe. But even as Poe is questioned by police, another grisly murder occurs, also inspired by a popular Poe story.

Realizing a serial killer is on the loose using Poe’s writings as the backdrop for his bloody rampage, Fields enlists the author’s help in stopping the attacks. But when it appears someone close to Poe may become the murderer’s next victim, the stakes become even higher and the inventor of the detective story calls on his own powers of deduction to try to solve the case before it’s too late.

The Raven looks to be a slightly darker version of Sherlock Holmes, however that may just be the editing of the trailer. Either way, it looks quite good and interesting enough to see when it hits next March.

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Luke Evans (Clash of the Titans) and Alice Eve (Sex in the City 2) are in negotiations to join John Cusack in The Raven according to THR.

The film, to be directed by James McTeigue (V for Vendetta, Ninja Assassin) follows author Edgar Allan Poe (Cusack) in 1849 who’s fiance (Eve) is kidnapped by a serial killer who has gone on a murdering spree that mimics the author’s work. Evans will play a detective who partners with Poe to search for the serial killer and his fiance.

Both Luke Evans and Alice Eve (both British) are officially on the ‘up and coming’ list. Evans had a small role in Clash of the Titans, and will be heading back to Greece as Zeus in Immortals next year. The actor will also be seen in The Three Musketeers by director Paul W.S. Anderson.

Alice Eve was on the shortlist to play Peggy Carter in Captain America: The First Avenger and to play Emma Frost in X-Men: First Class. She unfortunately missed out on both, but she has finally landed herself a meaty role with The Raven.

Filming will begin in November in Budapest and the film will be released sometime next year.

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Looks like we spoke a bit too soon with our last post regarding The Raven. Jeremy Renner’s involvement was apparently overestimated, and now with the actor moving on to Mission: Impossible 4 and perhaps Paul Thomas Anderson’s tentatively titled The Master, a slot has opened in James McTeigue’s intriguing Edgar Allan Poe project.

John Cusack has stepped in to play Poe, who – in this fictionalized version of his last five days on Earth – must team up with a detective to catch a serial killer who has captured Poe’s fiancé and kills people in ways inspired by the author’s own work.

Heat Vision brings the casting news, also reporting the film will shoot in Budapest and Serbia, locations which are supposed to double for Baltimore, Maryland in the year 1859. Filming begins on October 25th.

Joaquin Phoenix (star of the upcoming documentary I’m Still Here) and Ewan McGregor were once in talks for the lead role in The Raven over the years, and apparently Renner was attached as the detective before leaving in favor of M:I 4.

I think the detective role sounds perfect for Edward Norton. Who do you think should replace Renner to assist Cusack’s Poe in tracking down a notorious killer? And what do you think of Cusack himself playing the iconic author? This is one of the most original ideas I’ve heard in Hollywood development circles in quite some time, so expect updates on this project as they arrive.

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Fresh on the heels of the “Adrien Brody/Jonathan Rhys Meyers for Reed Richards” rumors, it seems 20th Century Fox’s Fantastic Four reboot has again commanded the attention of the blogosphere with yet another set of rumors – this time regarding a potential director. There’s also the possibility of an A-list star providing the voice for the all-CG version of The Thing that will inhabit the film. Hit the jump to find out who’s being considered.

Comic Book Movie reports that David Yates (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows), Joe Carnahan (The A-Team, Smokin’ Aces), and James McTeigue (V for Vendetta) are in contention for the director’s chair.

I’d take this list as more of a wish list than a group of definite candidates, but with all of the casting rumors flying around, I’d imagine that Fox will announce a director (and possibly confirm some of that cast) sometime very soon. After all, they’re trying to lock the F4 reboot into a 2012 release date, so they better get started on preproduction if they want to meet their deadline.

If I had to choose a director from this list, I’d say give it to Yates. I’ve literally never seen one of his films, but I’d much rather Carnahan spend his time on an A-Team sequel (I quite enjoyed the first one) and McTeigue move on to more interesting projects after his Edgar Allen Poe murder mystery film.

And perhaps the most realistic bit of news also comes from CBM, who claim that Bruce Willis is being sought to provide the voice work for Ben Grimm, aka The Thing. I can totally see this happening; Willis will be busy for a bit shooting Rian Johnson’s Looper and perhaps appearing as a super villain in a sequel to The Expendables, but doing voice work seems like something he might be able to fit into his schedule.

What do you all think? If the director must be one of these three, who would you rather see lead the Fantastic Four into a new era? And what do you think about “Bruno” as the next big Thing?

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A few days ago it was confirmed that Bryan Singer would not be directing, but producing, X-Men: First Class as he is deep in pre-production on Jack the Giant Killer and won’t be available until 2012. 20th Century Fox liked the script he wrote with Jamie Moss and are aiming to begin filming later this year for a possible 2011 release, and in order to do that they will need a director. Fox are busy talking to a few people now and we will probably get an announcement over the upcoming weeks, but until then let’s speculate!

(In no particular order)

Michael Dougherty

He co-wrote X-Men 2 and Superman Returns with Singer so he already has a working relationship with him and knows the X-Men well (click here to read what he planned for X-Men 3 before Singer left). Dougherty has only directed one film, Trick ‘r Treat, which took 2 years to be released and when it did it went straight to DVD. That was mainly because Warner Bros. didn’t know what to do with it (could really only be released around Halloween), however it is 86% positive on Rotten Tomatoes and did relatively well on DVD.

Matthew Vaughn

The Layer Cake and Stardust director was hired to direct X-Men 3 after Singer left, although he too left soon after because he didn’t think he could create the movie he wanted with the time and creative restrictions 20th Century Fox had in place. Since leaving he worked on Thor for Marvel, but they bailed because of the budget. Vaughn eventually landed himself a comic book movie with Kick-Ass, which he made himself because no studio would make it. With a budget of $28 million and rave reviews it looks like Kick-Ass will be a critical and financial success, which means he’ll probably begin work on a sequel. In the unlikely event of Kick-Ass bombing I think he would be a suitable candidate for X-Men: First Class.

James McTeigue

Ninja Assassin may not have been one of the best reviewed movies of last year, but V for Vendetta still remains in IMDB’s Top 250 movies of all time (#167). McTeigue would have been a good choice to direct Magneto, and he seemed to like the idea too, but seeing as though that won’t be getting made anytime soon (if ever) he could work on X-Men: First Class instead. The only problem is The Raven which may film at some point this year with Jeremy Renner and Ewan McGregor (who would have been a great candidate to play a young Magneto).

Alfonso Cuarón

Children of Men remains one of my favourite movies after all these years for obvious reasons, and Prisoner of Azkaban is probably the most visually stunning Harry Potter movie made so far. It is also the best reviewed. Alfonso Cuarón can work with teenagers, which the X-Men will be, and he would be a solid choice to direct First Class. Unfortunately he will be making Gravity with Robert Downey Jr. this summer, so it is unlikely that he will be free.

Joss Whedon

The man behind Serenity, Buffy and Dollhouse has been a fan favourite ever since he wrote the Astonishing X-Men comic books. Whedon’s ‘Cure’ storyline from the comics was the main storyline in X3, and he is also responsible for the “Do you know what happens to a Toad when it gets struck by lightning” line from the first film (not exactly the best selling point). Whedon doesn’t have anything big lined up to direct in the near future, so it just depends on whether Fox are interested in getting him on-board for First Class.

20th Century Fox are planning for X-Men: First Class to be the first in a planned trilogy, so they may be looking for an up and coming (cheap and controllable) director who can stick around for all three movies. The directors above are just a few that were on my radar and have connection with the X-Men, but its unlikely Fox will be going after them.

What do you think of the suggestions above, and who do you think should direct X-Men: First Class?

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Jeremy Renner’s breakout and Oscar-nominated performance in The Hurt Locker has piqued the collective interest of film fans worldwide. So what will the actor do next?

The New York Times brings word [via The Playlist] that Renner is choosing between Peter Berg’s (Hancock, The Kingdom, The Rundown) board game adaptation Battleship or an undisclosed movie for which he’s had “no less than five meetings.” The actor will choose between the two projects soon; both are expected to begin shooting this summer.

But one thing we know for sure: Renner will suit up for director James McTeigue’s (V For Vendetta, Ninja Assassin) latest indie project, Raven. The plot synopsis is as follows:

[Raven is] a fictionalized account of the final five “mysterious” days of Edgar Allen Poe’s life. Apparently the famous writer joins the hunt for a serial killer whose murders are inspired by his stories. McTeigue described the film: It’s like the poem, The Raven, itself, crossed with Se7en. It should be pretty cool. The script is really good and everyone responds to it really well.

Ewan McGregor is in talks to co-star with Renner in Raven, and I don’t know about you, but no amount of ninja assassins could sway my interest from this project. At this point, it’s unclear what parts the two actors would play in the film, but they are both high quality actors in an interesting-sounding story, so I’m sold regardless. Does this project interest you? What do you think about Renner’s potential involvement in Berg’s Battleship?

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Ninja Assassin is released today in the US and to drum up some last minute interest Warner Bros. provided IGN with a red band trailer for the film. It contains lots of blood (CGI blood that is), stabbing, shooting and gore.

Watch below:

Meanwhile reviews for the film are pouring in and most of them are mixed/negative, which is disappointing.

Rain and Harris are decent and there are moments of stylized lunacy that nearly work, but Ninja Assassin is a film that falls apart as soon as you think about any single element of it.

Ninja Assassin is wildly improbable and completely unrealistic, but it’s also bloody good fun.

Thanks to the movie’s dire script, flat performances and excessively slick, tricked-out fight scenes, it gets increasingly hard to care about anything that goes on here, even when it happens to be visible without the use of night-vision goggles.

Seemingly made to capitalize on a dubious CG innovation — namely, the slicing of bodies in half by whizzing five-pointed stars — Ninja Assassin has little else to recommend it, not even laughs.

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X-Men Origins: Magneto has been in development hell ever since the writers strike in 2007/2008 and it’s been a frustrating two years. They were scouting for locations and budgeting before the WGA put down their pens, but then David Goyer started working on The Unborn (12% on Rotten Tomatoes) and then he moved onto the his TV show FlashForward.

Meanwhile, 20th Century Fox were waiting to see how X-Men Origins: Wolverine fared ($371 million worldwide), and have since been developing a Wolverine 2, Deadpool and X-Men: First Class. Magneto, however, looks like it will be in development hell for a while.

Collider recently asked Goyer for an update on the project, and he basically said what he’s been saying for the past few months: “I’m busy, Fox are thinking”.

I’ll pretend I didn’t see the part where he didn’t know how to pronounce Magneto (the same Magneto he’s apparently co-wrote a script for, and the same Magneto that’s been in 3 X-Men movies).

I don’t think I want David Goyer to direct Magneto. In the past I was up for it because I wanted to see the movie made and he worked on The Dark Knight, but that has really been the only great thing he’s done and it’s mainly down to Christopher Nolan. Goyer is busy with FlashForward and Ghost Rider 2 anyway. If only there were another director interested in it…

…oh wait, there is! V for Vendetta and Ninja Assassin director James McTeigue. From FirstShowing:

To wrap things up, I asked James about the rumor that IMDb lists his name as a co-director (with David Goyer) on the still-in-development X-Men Origins: Magneto movie. As you might’ve expected, that is pretty much a completely BS rumor. “I think David Goyer would probably be surprised about that, actually. I think that’s just one of those rumors that kind of starts… Until he drops out!” McTeigue said he would love to do it, but it’s Goyer’s project, he wrote it, he’ll probably direct, and he won’t touch it since it’s entirely Goyer’s baby.

Imagine having a baby you can’t pronounce the name of! Fox I suggest you give McTeigue a call before Warner Bros. sign him up for the next Superman movie. You don’t want to make the same mistake twice do you!?

(If you do may I suggest Bryan Singer, you may have heard of him, or Alfonso Cuarón. He made Children of Men)

[Magneto and Sentinel image by Livio]

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For a guy who’s not actually attached to direct the next Superman movie (whatever that will be) Ninja Assassin director James McTeigue has been talking about it quite a lot recently. This is most likely because he’s been asked about it, as rumours were swirling around that Warner Bros. were eyeing him up to direct. In August he shared his vision on what he would do with the caped one if he came on-board to direct, and now he has told FirstShowing that some discussions have taken place.

I asked James if there was any truth to that rumor that he, or the Wachowskis, might be involved in another movie. His answer started out short and sweet: “Maybe some truth to… I’ve had some discussions, the Wachowskis to a lesser degree, but the Superman franchise is in a strange kind of place at the moment,” McTeigue revealed. “I think they’re still trying to work out the mechanics of how that can come together.”

“I think I would be interested in doing it if they let me do it the way I wanted to do it. I would say that, if you take the Richard Donner Supermans and the last Superman [from Bryan Singer], I think that Superman is probably ripe for a bit of a change up. I think society has changed around the core idea of what Superman was.”

“And I’m not saying you do the ubiquitous dark Superman, I’m not saying that… I’m just saying that I think there are some things that you could excise from the Superman mythology that people would get into it, if you took the world that he was in and changed that a bit, and maybe even project that into the future a bit. I think you don’t really have to play into the origin story anymore. I think there’s a whole bunch of things you could do to make that film more alive and exciting again.”

Last month head of DC Entertainment, Diane Nelson, said that no work on a new Superman movie is currently taking place, although Ninja Assassin will be released next month and if that become a hit then Warner Bros. may want to have more discussions with Mr. McTeigue.

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I still watch V for Vendetta every now and again to remind myself how good it is, and if Ninja Assassin ends up being as badass as it looks then James McTeigue will become one of my favourite directors. However, it seems he is already one of Warner Bros. as there has been talk recently that McTeigue could end up directing the next Superman movie. In a recent interview McTeigue would “neither confirm nor deny” his attachment which probably means there’s something going on, and now he’s told MTV what he would do if he took the reigns.

“I think if I was ever going to go near Superman, I would do a complete reboot—take it in a direction that you would absolutely not expect, actually,” McTeigue told MTV News. “So, that would be my thinking on it, if I was ever going to go near Superman.”

Elaborating on the direction he’d like to take Superman in a potential movie, McTeigue said recent events would seem to work in favor of a new take on the Man of Steel.

“I think it’s good that they just had a court case where, basically, if you make another Superman movie, you can’t touch Superman growing up—that’s part of the story that you can’t touch any more,” he said. “That wouldn’t be a bad thing. I think everybody’s a bit sick of seeing the origin story.”

While we can’t stress enough that McTeigue isn’t officially on board the potential big-screen reboot of the “Superman” movie franchise, it’s certainly interesting to know what one of the rumored top contenders would like to do with the character if he had the chance.

Warner Bros. have until 2011 to get a new Superman movie into production if they want to keep the rights, and I think it would be a good move to get James McTeigue on-board.

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