John Cusack (Being John Malkovich) and Evan Peters (Kick-Ass) are in advanced talks to star in Adult World.

Cusack and Peters will appear opposite Emma Roberts (Scream 4) in the adult themed drama.

Adult World centers on a recent college graduate (Roberts) who believes she’s destined to be a great poet, instead winds up working for an adult book store.

Scott Coffey (Ellie Parker) will direct from a screenplay written by Andy Cochran (Super Sweet 16: The Movie).

Adult World, which is currently in production, is a co-production between TreeHouse Pictures and Anonymous Content.

Source: Deadline

All that we’ve seen so far from James McTeigue’s upcoming thriller, The Raven, has been very promising, most recently with the new trailer at the end of last year. Directed by McTeigue, whose credits include the brilliant V For Vendetta, the cast is led by John Cusack in the lead role of renowned poet Edgar Allen Poe, with a supporting cast that includes Luke Evans, Alice Eve, Brendan Gleeson, and Oliver Jackson-Cohen, and co-written by Hannah Shakespeare and Ben Livingston.

The first teaser posters that surfaced last year were both absolutely stunning, and this new poster, courtesy of EW via FirstShowing, features Cusack front and centre and departs a little from the earlier artwork, but is just as excellent.

“In this gritty thriller, Edgar Allan Poe (John Cusack, Being John Malkovich) joins forces with a young Baltimore detective (Luke Evans, Immortals) to hunt down a mad serial killer who’s using Poe’s own works as the basis in a string of brutal murders. Directed by James McTeigue (V for Vendetta,Ninja Assassin), the film also stars Alice Eve (Sex and the City 2), Brendan Gleeson (In Bruges) and Oliver Jackson-Cohen (Faster).

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.”

Originally scheduled for a 9^th March release in the US, Relativity have since pushed it back to 27^th April, which some have suggested indicates a lack of faith in the film, but I don’t think that’s necessarily true. If you take a look at the other releases that weekend in the States, you’ll see that Disney’s blockbuster John Carter is coming out, and putting The Raven up against a film like that wouldn’t really be sensible. The audiences might not be quite the same, but the more niche market for The Raven will probably be torn between the two, and a film like John Carter probably has the bigger appeal, if only because it’s full of 3D special effects.

Pushing it back to 27^th April should make for a more stable opening, without the same level of competition. That weekend sees the release of The Five-Year Engagement and Safe, which should be less competition for The Raven to find its feet.

The UK release date was originally scheduled for 9^th March too, and there’s no word yet on whether or not it will keep that slot and open before it does in America or get pushed back too. John Carter is opening here on 9^th March as well, so if that is the reasoning for the move, then it’s quite possible that we’ll have to wait until April to see it here too. Importantly, however, we’re getting The Avengers on 27^th April (whereas the States get it a week later), so it could well be that we’ll have it here on a different weekend to the US; hopefully we’ll get it earlier rather than later, because this looks like something to look forward to. Without further ado, here’s the new poster for your viewing pleasure.

This sort of thing can rapidly turn into a vanity project, so I will have to watch my step a little. Laudable as it is to try to bring to people’s attention some splendid films which they may not have seen, it can swiftly deteriorate into, “oh gosh, you haven’t seen Cube: Zero, what kind of film fan do you call yourself?”.

So the criterion here is not obscurity, nor necessarily five-star classic status, rather this is an effort at a simple introduction to a handful of rarely seen and perhaps under-appreciated films that you might want to catch when and where you can. I’ve tried to mix up the genres a little and so hopefully everyone can find something they will like.

 Page One (#1 #2) – Page Two (#3 #4) - Page Three (#5 #6)

1. A Better Tomorrow (1986) – Dir. John Woo

John Woo has been responsible for some of the most acclaimed and satisfying action films to ever see the light of day. Hard Boiled and Face/Off are very different propositions, but no less splendid for it. Before he made The Killer and long before he moved to Hollywood and all but lost his mojo, Woo gave the world Chow Yun Fat with a gun in each hand and A Better Tomorrow, arguably the best film on his CV, if not as balletic in its violence as Hard Boiled, or as sky-high in its conception as Face/Off. It’s certainly better than Hard Target and Mission: Impossible 2.

A Better Tomorrow finds Chow Yun Fat as a gangster, trying to mend his ways and reconnect with his policeman brother, though the path is a difficult one. It gives us the (now) trademark flourishes of a Woo set-piece, lots of guns, quite a lot of slow-motion, operatic themes, seemingly limitless ammunition and piles of dead bodies. As noted above, it is not as much of an adrenaline rush as some of Woo’s later output, but the characterisation is better, the performances more affecting and the denouement more satisfying. Catch it if you can.

2. Scarlet Street (1945) – Dir. Fritz Lang

This one really was a match made in heaven. A film noir, featuring a lead actor (Edward G. Robinson) who was tailor made for the genre (and has given us splendid iterations on both sides of the law in films like Key Largo, Little Caesar and Double Indemnity) and a director brilliant at exploring shadows, both photographically and thematically (The Big Heat, M, Metropolis). It must be admitted that this is a pretty obscure film, relatively unheralded in the oeuvre of Robinson or Lang, but it is no less worth tracking down for it. I caught it on the big screen during an extremely limited re-release back around the turn of the millennium and I am so very glad that I did.

The story sees Robinson as Christopher Cross (Chris-Cross?), a mild-mannered gentleman in the throes of a mid-life crisis who meets and befriends a young woman, whose fiance gets her to help try to con Cross out of a perceived fortune.

Unusually for Robinson, who tended to play characters with plenty of wit, nous and guile, he presents us here with a sad-sack of a man, downbeat, simple and gullible. He is easily duped, but wholly lacks the intellectual or emotional equipment to recover and we are left with a conclusion of devastating finality and bleakness. Fritz Lang is clearly entirely at home with the themes, character arcs and dour colour palate and perhaps the idea of a female character leading someone to their unwitting downfall resonated with him from one of the key elements of Metropolis.

The screenplay is by Dudley Nichols, who also gave us the scripts for Stagecoach, Bringing Up Baby and The Tin Star and is suitably economic and clinical, but in the end it is Robinson’s performance and his plight that most gets under the skin. Affecting and powerful. If you have the time, the whole film is embedded below:-

 Page One (#1 #2) – Page Two (#3 #4) - Page Three (#5 #6)

Lee Daniels began lining up a terrific cast for his follow-up to the Oscar-winning Precious earlier this year, when Zac Efron, Matthew McConaughey, Tobey Maguire, and Sofía Vergara were announced as coming on board The Paperboy.

After a bit of a cast change-up, switching Maguire for John Cusack and Vergara for Nicole Kidman, and adding David Oyelowo to the list, filming got underway through the year and the project is now in post-production, expected to be released sometime next year.

We’ve now got a terrific first poster from the film, courtesy of The Film Stage, with Efron front and centre on this, looking excellent. Sitting beside him, unless I’m wildly mistaken, is Kidman who looks pretty damn transformed for the role.

“A directionless young man helps his reporter brother investigate the possible wrongful conviction of a man on death row, and in the process, falls for the woman whom the convict has been romancing through prison correspondence.”

The script comes from Pete Dexter, who has adapted his own 1995 novel of the same name, and this first official look at the film really does look good. Efron has been diversifying his career a little in the past few years, which I think has been a great move by him. We’ll next get to see him in The Lucky One next May, the adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’ original novel, and judging by the trailer we saw for it earlier this month, that should be excellent too.

I initially thought that McConaughey would be playing the villain in this thriller, but that role is instead going to be taken by Cusack, who I can’t wait to see playing the antagonist. By all accounts, this is something to look forward to, and Daniels has set up a fantastic cast for the project. No word yet on exactly when we can look forward to seeing it in cinemas, but with this first poster arriving, hopefully it means that a release date is just on the horizon, along with the concurrent ad campaign. As usual, click to enlarge.

A new trailer has appeared online for John McTeigue’s film The Raven which takes a fictional swipe at the last days of poet of the night (not ‘of the night’ in a prostitute way, not nocturnal, you know what I mean) Edgar Allan Poe, and it’s rather nice.

John Cusack beards up and takes on a serial killer who is taking inspiration from Poe’s work, Luke Evans, Alice Eve, Brendan Gleeson​ and Oliver Jackson-Cohen star alongside him.

My Movies had this one, the film is out on the 9th of March next year. Will this be a Guy Ritchie style rendering of this literary force? I’m rather looking forward to it, you?

I won’t lie, I have all the time in the world for John Cusack. The man who brought us Being John Malkovich, Con Air, Grosse Pointe Blank, Identity and High Fidelity seems to rarely put a foot wrong and as that list shows, frequently puts it very right. The trailer for The Raven looks absolutely stunning, but time and tide wait for no man and so his head turns to other projects.

Next up for Cusack looks like being The Numbers Station, which will see him play a black-ops agent, who having messed up finds himself in a seemingly dead-end job, watching Malin Akerman (Watchmen, The Heartbreak Kid)’s code operator at a CIA broadcast station. No doubt all will turn out to not be quite as it seems, the isolated station will be set upon and the seemingly lowly code operator will turn out to be caught up in something very serious indeed. Perhaps then Cusack’s training and skills as a former black-ops agent will come in useful? Honestly, some of these things must just write themselves.

Actually, there is a real writer on board, one F. Scott Frazier, seemingly unconnected to F. Scott Fitzgerald. Frazier is listed on IMDb as an experienced video game evaluater. No, me neither. Given that Cusack is no mug, the script must be reasonably up to scratch, unless this is one of those 2012-style pay-days. Danish-born director Kasper Barfoed is calling the shots.

Source: Variety

When it was announced that James McTeigue had cast John Cusack in the role of Edgar Allan Poe in The Raven eyebrows were raised and expectations gamely followed.

A fictionalised account of the author’s involvement in a police investigation of a serial killer using his work as inspiration seemed like a novel concept and some moody first look images flitted from the set giving the impression that this would be a suitably dark cinematic outing for the man who puts the ‘Poe’ in Poet.

Now that we’ve got a first look at the trailer it seems Relativity Media have served up a unique Edgar A Poe (where the ‘A’ stands for ACKSHUN) and it cannot be a coincidence that this looks very similar to Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes films.

Neither a hideously overburdened bandwagon, nor a particularly bad move and there are some nicely grisly moments in amongst the shouting and there’s a hint of Sleepy Hollow in the mix too. It’ll be interesting to see if Clive Owen is cast as Chuck Dickens: Workhouse Liberator in the next year or so.

The movie stars John Cusack, Luke Evans, Alice Eve, Brendan Gleeson​ and Oliver Jackson-Cohen, directed by James McTeigue and is out in the States on March of next year with a UK date to be announced.

Scott Walker’s directorial debut will be worked from his own script for The Frozen Ground, the true story of a seemingly respectable family man, Robert Hansen, who turns out to be a serial killer. Over the course of more than a decade, Hansen kidnapped, then hunted and killed more than two dozen women in the hostile wilds of Alaska.

John Cusack will play Hansen, in what seems like a beautiful piece of casting. Nicolas Cage will be the State Trooper who finds Hudgens, who is one of the few of the intended victims who has managed to escape. Perhaps inevitably, Hudgens’ character struggles to make people believe her seemingly improbable story. Curtis “Fiddy Cent” Jackson is on board as an executive producer and has also been cast in a role as a 1980′s-era pimp.

I’m inclined to say that I’d watch Cusack in pretty much anything, so the idea of seeing him as a menacing, presumably psychopathic serial killer fills me with anticipation. One to keep an eye on.

Sources: Deadline and Anchorage Daily News.

1959. Four friends, Gordie, Chris, Teddy and Vern hear that a dead body has been found near the railway tracks many miles away from their home town of Castle Rock, Oregon. Although they are only 12 years old and expect a hiding from their parents, they hatch a plan to set off to find the body, hoping for fame and glory but instead finding out and disclosing to each other an awful lot about themselves.

*****

With Super 8 fresh in many people’s minds, a film about a group of young friends on the cusp of adolescence embarking on an adventure and “coming of age” in the process of some sort of “rite of passage” will sound familiar, maybe even clichéd. Nothing could be further from the truth when considering Stand By Me. Made in 1986 and featuring an absolutely impeccably cast group of young boys, Stand By Me speaks volumes about the nature of friendship when you are twelve, the emotional upheaval involved in finding your place and your way in the world, the challenges we face in trying to overcome the disadvantages of our upbringing and the deep-seated pain caused by sometimes thoughtless, sometimes neglectful parents and teachers.

Each character is given a thoughtful, considered and distinctive backstory. Teddy (Corey Feldman) has an abusive father who has now been committed to an institution, but not before pushing Teddy’s ear down onto a hot stove. Vern (a nigh-on unrecognisable Jerry O’Connell) is initially dismissed as the silly, chubby one, but desperately wants to be a proper part of the gang, having overheard his older brother talking about the body and first brought to his friends the idea of looking for it. Gordie is a gifted writer, but is virtually ignored by his parents who have emotionally shut down following the death of Gordie’s beloved big brother (a brief but affecting cameo from John Cusack) and Gordie can’t shake the feeling that everyone wishes he had died instead of his brother. As Gordie breaks down at the end, sobbing “my Dad hates me”, your heart breaks for the pain that his young shoulders are trying to carry. Chris (River Phoenix) is the leader of the gang, the most mature and confident of them, but he has been branded a thief over an incident with milk money at school and feels shackled by the reputation of his family.

All of this sounds pretty bleak and oppressive, so it is to director Rob Reiner (Spinal Tap, Misery, The American President)’s eternal credit that he manages to balance the tone so well. Yes, there are times where his young cast break down in mesmerisingly convincing tears or well-up with deep-seated rage, but there is also breathless excitement, laughter, adventure, private jokes, ribbing, peril, camaraderie. You almost never catch them “acting”, a phenomenal achievement for any young cast, but especially when you consider how inexperienced most of them were. The two weeks they spent rehearsing before shooting pays off in spades in building the sense that these boys have been friends for years.

What also represents a terrific achievement for Reiner is that the whole adventure, all of the back stories, the bookend segments with Gordie played as a grown-up with his own family by Richard Dreyfuss and several flash-backs (plus one peerless fire-side story about a blueberry pie-eating contest) fits in seemingly effortlessly to a compact 90-minute running time. So many film-makers these days seem unable to make difficult editing choices and we get summer tentpole blockbusters coming in at over 2 1/2 hours for no discernible reason.

Flawlessly acted, beautifully shot, heart-achingly moving and affecting, at times rip-roaringly exciting and incomparably and unashamedly nostalgic. Much as I greatly loved Super 8, it is but a pale imitation of how Rob Reiner showed this sort of thing really should be done. If you haven’t seen it before, do so immediately. If you have, see it again. And again. Wonderful.

***** (5/5)

Blu-ray Extras: First of all, the Blu-ray transfer is excellent for this well-timed 25 year anniversary re-release. I’ve seen sharper Blu-rays, but given the 1959 setting and the nostalgic tone, it is fitting that it be a little softer around the edges. The special features are a mixture of old and new.

Bluray Exclusive: In picture commentary from Rob Reiner, Cory Feldman and Wil Wheaton. This is really interesting stuff for the most part, with recollections by one sparking the others off and each of them bringing different perspectives. Feldman’s frustration at himself not being able to have helped River in the period leading up to his death is moving to behold and in River’s key scenes a mournful hush descends over them all as they consider the premature loss of so considerable a talent. At one point Wil Wheaton relays a conversation he had with Sean Astin, wherein Astin said he would trade Wheaton Lord of the Rings for Stand By Me, showing just how significant a film this is in the hearts of that generation. Wheaton and Feldman share which lines tend to get called out to them, or quoted by their own children and Rob Reiner brings out a lot of interesting background as well.

Audio Commentary by Rob Reiner. A lot of this is repeated in the in-screen commentary, but there are a few new morsels to savour.

Making of Documentary. This dates back to 2000, so we see Wheaton, Reiner, Kiefer Sutherland, O’Connell and Feldman looking a lot younger than they do now. It runs to 30 minutes and is generally informative and not too gushy, with input this time from Stephen King, who wrote the source novel and was 12 himself (just like Reiner) at the time the story is set.

Music Video and Trailers.

***~~ (3/5)

You can get Stand By Me on DVD and Blu-ray now. And you really ought to.

We got our first official look at John Cusack as Edgar Allen Poe in the upcoming The Raven back in June, and he looked pretty fantastic.

We then got an utterly stunning first poster for the film a month later, followed by a great batch of images, and then a second follow-up poster that was yet another brilliant work of art.

Directed by James McTeigue (V for Vendetta), and written by Hannah Shakespeare (Loverboy) and newcomer Ben Livingstone, the film is led by John Cusack and also stars Luke Evans, Alice Eve, Brendan Gleeson, and Oliver Jackson-Cohen. Our first look at Alice Eve as the female lead in the film came with the batch of images back in July, and we’ve now got our first hi-res look at her courtesy of Bloody Disgusting. Rest assured, though, the picture is far from bloody disgusting, showing Eve fit for a ball at the seat of a (forte)piano.

“In this gritty thriller, Edgar Allan Poe (John Cusack, Being John Malkovich) joins forces with a young Baltimore detective (Luke Evans, Immortals) to hunt down a mad serial killer who’s using Poe’s own works as the basis in a string of brutal murders. Directed by James McTeigue (V for Vendetta,Ninja Assassin), the film also stars Alice Eve (Sex and the City 2), Brendan Gleeson (In Bruges) and Oliver Jackson-Cohen (Faster).

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.”

That synopsis sounds like an awesome premise for a film to me, and I’m really looking forward to seeing how this turns out. McTeigue is a fantastic director with so much potential, and it will be interesting to see his take on a period thriller like this. Everything we’ve seen from the movie so far shows a lot of promise, and I have every expectation that it will live up to its prospects and then some.

The Raven currently has a 9th March release date in the States next year, and though there’s no word on a UK release date yet, hopefully it’s just a matter of time before one comes through. With any luck, we won’t have to wait much/any longer after the US gets it until it arrives in our cinemas. Without further ado, here’s the lovely new image of Alice Eve. As usual, click to enlarge.

If you thought the first teaser poster for James McTeigue’s forthcoming movie The Raven was eye-catching, just wait until you see this latest one: the striking second teaser pares the design back to just the silhouette of a raven set against a scarlet background, with an ominous line of blood running down to the title and tagline. I don’t know about you but on the basis of this poster alone I’m suddenly rather intrigued by this film.

Set in 1849 and starring John Cusack as Edgar Allen Poe, The Raven follows the famous author as he works alongside a Baltimore detective (played by Luke Evans) to track down a serial killer inspired by his work. It’s an interesting premise, and if the film can live up to the frankly quite stunning design work that’s gone into its promotional materials thus far, we’re in for a treat when it reaches cinemas next year.

(via Latino Review)

John Cusack (Being John Malkovich) and Nicolas Cage (Kick-Ass) are in talks to star in The Frozen Ground.

Set to be written and directed by relative newcomer Scott Walker, The Frozen Ground is based on true events surrounding Alaska’s most notorious serial predator, Robert Hansen.

Emmett Furla Films, Amber Entertainment and Envision Entertainment will co-produce, while Voltage will handle international sales.

Cusack will next be seen in The Raven, while Cage is finishing up production on Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.

Source: Deadline

James McTeigue (V for Vendetta, Ninja Assassin) is currently at Comic-Con in San Diego, drumming up support for his latest thriller The Raven, the poster for which we brought you only yesterday. That poster seems to very much have a style all its own and has raised considerable interest from me, where little previously existed. Aaron Ryder, production head at FilmNation Entertainment, is seemingly so pleased with McTeigue’s work on The Raven that he is also producing his next outing, “Message From The King”:-

“After working with James on The Raven and then seeing a cut of the film, it was very clear to us that we needed to make his next movie.”

Message From The King, from a script by Oliver Butcher (Dr Jekyll & Ms Hyde, Unknown) and Stephen Cornwell (Killing Streets and, erm, Unknown as well) tells of Jacob King, an “enigmatic outsider”, come to LA to look into the sudden disappearance of his sister. Are outsiders always enigmatic? Is every disappearance sudden. We need answers people.

In the meantime, it looks as though filming will kick off much later in the year, with FilmNation distributing and no-one as yet on board to star. No doubt that will change soon, especially if The Raven is well received.

Source: Deadline

Relativity Media have released a couple of new images for their new movie, The Raven which is showing this weekend during Comic-Con which is currently taking place in San Diego. The movie stars John Cusack, Luke Evans, Alice Eve, Brendan Gleeson and Oliver Jackson-Cohen and it’s directed by James McTeigue.

In this gritty thriller, Edgar Allan Poe (John Cusack, Being John Malkovich) joins forces with a young Baltimore detective (Luke Evans, Immortals) to hunt down a mad serial killer who’s using Poe’s own works as the basis in a string of brutal murders. Directed by James McTeigue (V for Vendetta,Ninja Assassin), the film also stars Alice Eve (Sex and the City 2), Brendan Gleeson (In Bruges) and Oliver Jackson-Cohen (Faster).

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 gets its release 9th March in the US (not UK release date as yet).

Click the images below to enlarge.

Relativity Media have released the rather awesome first poster for The Raven ahead of the screenings which are taking place this weekend during Comic-Con. The movie stars John Cusack, Luke Evans, Alice Eve, Brendan Gleeson and Oliver Jackson-Cohen and it’s directed by James McTeigue.

In this gritty thriller, Edgar Allan Poe (John Cusack, Being John Malkovich) joins forces with a young Baltimore detective (Luke Evans, Immortals) to hunt down a mad serial killer who’s using Poe’s own works as the basis in a string of brutal murders. Directed by James McTeigue (V for Vendetta,Ninja Assassin), the film also stars Alice Eve (Sex and the City 2), Brendan Gleeson (In Bruges) and Oliver Jackson-Cohen (Faster).

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 gets its release 9th March in the US (not UK release date as yet).

I really love this poster. Taking the title of the movie to new levels making it a work of art rather than just someone’s face.Good work Relativity!

Click the images below to enlarge.

Source: Rope of Silicon

It’s been a while since we’ve seen or heard anything from the set of John McTeigue’s next, The Raven, and frankly this first look at John Cusack as Edgar Allan Poe is only a step above the very first pics which leaked from the set and is nothing like as atmospheric as this beauty from last December.

Entertainment Weekly have published the first official picture from the production and it shows the poet striding with full determination down a street, and is it just me or is there more than a hint of Mr Cage in his face?

Anyhoo, the film tells the fictionalised tale of the poet’s final days as he joins a local detective who is hunting a serial killer who claims to be inspired by his poems. I love the idea, Cusack is more than capable of turning up the eerie and as long as the script is up to scratch they have all the makings of a fine thriller. Trailer please.

Here’s the Poe/Cusack/Cage pic,

With thanks to Johnny ComingSoon for making the noise about this one.

John Cusack continues his trend of juggling the more serious pictures with lighter fare with news from Variety that he is set to headline a “screwball comedy of manners” called Dictablanda (Soft Dictator).

The Hot Tub Time Machine star is also producing the flick through his company, and has co-written the script with Kevin Morris and Paul Hipp.

Little is revealed about the film itself, but is has a tagline (People don’t die, they get killed) and its being shot on location in Buenos Aires and Argentina during March and April. Could it be some kind of comedic counterpart to The Expendables?

The actor will be next seen in two features which fall into the aforementioned “serious” category – Edgar Allan Poe biopic, The Raven, and the Mikael Hafstrom (his director on 1408) period drama, Shanghai.

We have been able to bring you a few on set snaps of the John Cusack-starring film The Raven, which tells a fictionalised tale of the final period of Edgar Allan Poe’s life, in which he tries to catch a serial killer whose murders mirror those of Poe’s poems and stories. Some of the pictures have been of iffy quality, but Cusack certainly looks the part.

Today, we have news via Deadline that the film, which is currently said to be in post-production, has been bought up by Relativity Media, who will now handle distribution in the US. The film has been financed so far by Intrepid Pictures. There is no word yet on a distribution deal outside the US.

We can only hope for an advertising campaign that does not feature the words, “featuring the star of 2012 and Hot Tub Time Machine” and will instead emphasise Cusack’s more interesting work in Grosse Pointe Blank, The Grifters, Identity, City Hall and Being John Malkovich.

We also have another on set shot, via Cusack’s Twitter account, which shows an atmospheric shot of a misty woodland setting, slightly spoiled by a director’s chair and two bottles of mineral water. You can see it below, or here on Cusack’s own site.

Almost exactly a month ago we got our first look at John Cusack as Edgar Allan Poe in John McTeigue’s The Raven, and while an on set pic of the man looking a little bored is all fine and well we’ve now got a far better look Cusack with the titular bird.

The Huffington Post had the pic, which is complemented below by another from Cusack’s twitter account and he certainly looks the part. The film is termed a psychological thriller based around the mysterious last days of Poe and a serial killer inspired by his works.

Here’s the first pic,

And a few hours ago John Cusack tweeted this picture of himself in suitably gloomy circumstances,

There was a definite raising of eyebrows and the quiet murmur of moderate intrigue when the announcement was made that John Cusack was to play Edgar Allan Poe in James McTeigue’s The Raven, and today we get our first look at the man and the facial hair.

Looking far more like Poe than my appalling Photoshopped version this picture was snapped while Cusack wandered the streets between takes. Eagle-eyed readers will spot that not all of his costume is entirely authentic, yet Cusack looks quite the Poe-t.

The Raven tells the story of the hunt for a serial killer who takes inspiration from the works of one E.A.P. and the man himself joins the investigation.

Here’s the pic,

Gawker (via STYD)