Mike Fleming

Luke Evans has been set to star alongside John Cusack in The Raven, the drama that will be directed by V for Vendetta’s James McTeigue. Production starts later this year in Eastern Europe. Cusack plays Edgar Allan Poe in stylized revisionist take of the last week of the poet’s life, written by Hannah Shakespeare and Ben Livingston. Evans will play a detective who teams with the poet to track down a serial killer who’s kidnapped Poe’s fiancée. I’m hearing Alice Eve is likely to play the female lead.

Evans is an up and comer who played Apollo in Clash of the Titans, plays Zeus in the upcoming Tarsem-directed The Immortals, and is in production playing Aramis in the Paul WS Anderson-directed 3D The Three Musketeers. Evans also stars in the Stephen Frears-directed Tamara Drewe. The coproduction between Intrepid and FilmNation will be produced by Trevor Macy, Marc D. Evans and Aaron Ryder. CAA will broker a domestic distribution deal shortly, with FilmNation’s Glen Basner selling foreign. The picture shapes up as an under $35 million film meant for wide distribution, which has become a sweet spot for independent distributors.