So, this project has nothing to do with that largely unsuccessful John Cusack thriller of last year, nor anything to do with Edgar Allen Poe at all, to the best of our knowledge. It’s nothing to do with the Roger Corman movie or the Henri-Georges Clouzot one, nor is it based on the popular Disney Channel show “That’s So Raven,” and it’s got nothing to do with any Baltimore-based football player. So just what is “The Raven”? Because it’s about to sign up the second most in-demand Hemsworth as its lead.
It turns out that “The Raven” (which we can only assume will soon undergo a name change to differentiate itself from that 2012 movie) is a project that’s set up over at Universal, and is based on a short film from Peruvian director Ricardo De Montreuil. That short followed a super-powered character called Chris ‘The Raven’ Black who was on the run from a fleet of robotic drones in downtown LA, and was shot for just $5000 over 48 hours. It proved a viral success, and Universal snapped up De Montreuil to helm a feature-length version.
Deadline are reporting that Hemsworth is close to taking the lead role of Chris Black, played by Victor Lopez in the short. That saw the character with “Chronicle”-esque powers parkour running through the streets as he avoided capture, and we expect Hemsworth will be put through similar paces in this extended sci-fi conspiracy thriller. Michael Gilio and Justin Marks penned the script, and Mark Wahlberg is among the producers. The short film alone (watch below) has us at least encouraged that this will be an interesting studio flick with the kind of hunky face fronting it that will attract a decent audience.
