The most dangerous time in an actor’s career is shortly after a successful property comes to an end.  Being part of something that has an eternal life in pop culture is something most actors dream about, but the double-edged sword of viewers always seeing the actor as the character that made him or her famous has cut down many a careers.  Daniel Radcliffe takes his first major step away from the comfortable confines of the Harry Potter franchise through a doorway used by hundreds of sci-fi actors: the horror movie.  The Woman in Black is out on DVD and Blu-Ray.  Our review is after the jump.

Some writer news recaps for you today.  Here they are in brief:

• Warner Bros. has tapped I Am Legend 2 screen writer,  Arash Amel, to do a page-one rewrite of director James Watkin’s Methuselah draft.
• Universal Pictures is looking to Contraband scribe Aaron Guzikowski to turn in a new draft of Evan Spiliotopoulos’s treatment of Herman Melville’s Moby Dick.

Hit the jump for more details on each project.

For Daniel Radcliffe’s first major role since Harry Potter, he chose to star in The Woman in Black, a gothic horror tale based off of a 1983 novel by Susan Hill. Horror movies have been lucrative as of late (Insidious, Paranormal Activity 3, The Devil Inside) and legendary studio Hammer Film Productions is delving back into the sort of film that made them popular in the UK. On this side of the pond, however, Radcliffe’s name is sure to stir up more interest than the revival of an old horror studio. With that in mind, domestic distributor CBS Films has released a collection of behind-the-scenes featurettes and clips for The Woman in Black in an effort to showcase Radcliffe’s maturity as an actor. Directed by James Watkins (Eden Lake), The Woman in Black stars Radcliffe, Janet McTeer (Tideland) and Ciaran Hinds (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) and opens February 3rd. Hit the jump to check out the featurettes, clips and a new poster.

The first trailer for The Woman in Black has gone online.  The movie stars Daniel Radcliffe as a young lawyer who travels to a remote village where he discovers the vengeful ghost of a scorned woman is terrorizing the locals.  As we’ve seen from the images released for the movie and now this new trailer, it looks like director James Watkins has done an excellent job saturating the film with a great gothic horror vibe.  The trailer also does a solid job of playing up the haunted house element of the plot.  My only complaint is that I wish we could hear Radcliffe say a couple lines so we could get a better sense of his performance.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.  The film also stars Ciaran Hinds, Janet McTeer, Liz White, and Alisa Khazanova.  The Woman in Black opens February 3, 2012.

Hammer Films has begun production on its first 3D film, The Woman in Black.  Written by Kick-Ass co-writer Jane Goldman (above) and directed by James Watkins (Eden Lake), the ghost story is an adaptation of Susan Hill’s novella of the same name.  Woman in Black is about a young solicitor who goes to settle the estate of a recently deceased elderly widow.  However, strange circumstances surrounding the woman’s town and her past lead to a discovery of a horrible legacy.  We first reported on the story back in February, but now Variety reports that the film will be in 3D.

Steve spoke with Goldman at WonderCon and she excitedly said she’s interested in tackling the Victorian ghost story with a J-horror (Japanese Horror) perspective.  I think that’s a fascinating take on the material and it will be cool to see how Goldman applies a J-horror style to a story that has no connection to Japan or Japanese history.

Hammer Films has sent over a press release announcing they’ve optioned the film rights to Susan Hill’s best selling, ghost story horror novel, The Woman in Black, and will produce a feature film adaptation with Talisman Films.  Jane Goldman (Stardust, Kick-Ass) is writing the screenplay and James Watkins (Eden Lake, Methuselah) will direct.  More after the jump: