As it turns out, the great book-to-movie pipeline has a future in 2022. Netflix has lined up an adaptation of Louis Bayard's historical fiction novel The Pale Blue Eye and you're going to want to click that 'notify me' button because it's going to be big.
For readers of America's patron saint of the macabre, Edgar Allan Poe, this one's for you. The Pale Blue Eye — a name that pays homage to Poe's short story The Tell-Tale Heart and sets the films morbid tone — begins at the gruelling US Military Academy, West Point, in 1830. It's here that Bayard's novel takes shape, opening with the image of a young cadet who appears to have died by suicide. Suicide, while not uncommon at West Point, is investigated by Gus Landor, a retired NYPD constable played by Christian Bale. The plot thickens when Landor returns to the crime scene to find the corpse missing and upon its return, he discovers someone has carved out the cadets heart. How wonderful.
It's a this point we are introduced to a young Edgar Allan Poe, a role played by Harry Melling who you may recall as Dudley Dursley from Harry Potter, or more recently from his parts in The Queens Gambit and The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. Poe is hired as Landor's assistant on the case, and appears to rather enjoy the ghoulish mystery. What ensues is another juicy 'whodunnit' story, one that is not entirely fictional.
We're drawn to this particular story not because of its take on an important historical and literary figure, but also because of its heavyweight filled cast. According to Deadline, some of Hollywood's biggest names have signed on to the film, and that's not including Christian Bale and Melling.
Expect performances from Gillian Anderson, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Lucy Boynton. As well as the iconic Timothy Spall and Toby Jones. Could they have cast this better? No, is the answer you're looking for.
At the moment we're short on details when it comes to a release date or trailer, but watch this space as we'll be sure to keep you updated.
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