Mark Wahlberg To Officially Produce Non-Poe ‘The Raven;’ Ricardo De Montreuil To Direct ‘Lowriders’
ConsideringThe Ravenis so well-known as a poem by Edgar Allen Poe, one would think using those two words as a title would be off the market. Unless, of course, you were actuallymaking a movieabout the famous macabre author.
That’s not the case, however, asMark Wahlberghas locked down a deal with Universal to produce and possibly star in a feature length adaptation of a short film byRicardo De Montreuilalso calledThe Raven. There are no birds on chamber doors in this story, though, as it’s about a man with powers being chased around Los Angeles by police drones, which are coordinated by a huge ship above the city.
Rumors of this deal werebroken over the summerbut it hit a few snags on its way to becoming official. The newest piece of information, though, is that De Montreuil, who co-wrote and directed the original short, has signed on to direct a new film calledLowriders. After the jump, read details on both deals and once again watch the short film this feature will be based on.
The Hollywood Reporterhad the exclusive onThe RavenandLowridersdeals, thoughLatino Reviewreported the former in July.The Ravenwill also be produced by Wahlberg’s partnerSteve Levinsonfrom a script byJustin Marks. There’s no word if De Montreuil will direct the film, but he’ll have his hands full directingLowriders, written byCheo Hodari Cokeand produced byBrian Grazer. Here’s the logline for that film.
Totally unrelated to Wahlberg and De Montreuil’sThe Ravenis James McTeigue’sThe Raven, which has everything to do with the Edgar Allen Poe poem as John Cusack is playing Poe. That film is currently shooting so it will be in theaters well before Wahlberg’s film. There’s also the small issue of Wahlberg having several other films on his plate includingUnchartedwith David O. RussellandTedwith Seth McFarlane.
Speaking of which, weoriginally posted this in Aprilbut just in case you haven’t seen it yet, here’s the short film that started all this buzz.
Do you guys think the title of the film will change because of the Poe film? And does that short have enough context to flesh out a full feature?
