The novel The Pale Blue Eye, written by Louis Bayard, is coming to Netflix courtesy of director Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart, Antlers), with Christian Bale set to star in the film.
What’s particularly interesting about this project for horror fans is that Edgar Allan Poe is a central character in the story, and we recently learned that Harry Potter actor Harry Melling has been cast in the role of Poe. Melling, who recently appeared on “The Queen’s Gambit,” is perhaps best known for playing Dudley Dursley in the Harry Potter film franchise.
Deadline updates today that Gillian Anderson (The Crown), Lucy Boynton (Bohemian Rhapsody), Charlotte Gainsbourg (Antichrist), Toby Jones (First Cow), Harry Lawtey (Industry), Simon McBurney (Carnival Row), Timothy Spall (Mr. Turner), Hadley Robinson (Moxie), Joey Brooks (Molly’s Game), Brennan Cook (Encounter), Gideon Glick (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), Fred Hechinger (The White Lotus), Matt Helm (The Tragedy of Macbeth), Steven Maier (The Plot Against America), Charlie Tahan (Ozark) and Robert Duvall (The Judge) will also star.
“The film written and directed by Cooper is based on Louis Bayard’s 2006 novel of the same name—a Gothic thriller that he’s been looking to make for more than a decade. It centers on a young cadet the world would come to know as Edgar Allan Poe (Melling) and a series of murders that took place at the United States Military Academy, West Point, in 1830.”
Christian Bale is producing and playing the detective at the center of the film.