We now have our first look at John Cusack as Edgar Allan Poe in the upcoming period-thriller The Raven.  Directed by James McTeigue (V for Vendetta), the story has Poe teaming up with a detective (played by Luke Evans) to search for a serial killer who has kidnapped the author’s fiancée (Alice Eve) and gone on a murder spree that recalls Poe’s stories.

Hit the jump to check out Cusack looking Poe-y.  Also, click here for Steve’s interview with McTeigue where the director talks about the film.

Luke Evans (Tamara Drewe) and Alice Eve (She’s Out of My League) are in talks to join James McTeigue’s upcoming period thriller The Raven starring John Cusack as Edgar Allan Poe.  According to Heat Vision, “Evans will play a detective who partners with Poe to search for a serial killer who has kidnapped the author’s fiance (Eve) and has gone on a murders spree that mimics the author’s work.”  No wonder every picture we have of Poe has him looking so bummed.

Jeremy Renner was originally set to play the part of the detective, but had to drop out due to a scheduling conflict with the fourth Mission: Impossible.  Shooting on The Raven begins November 9th with Serbia and Budapest standing in for 1849 Baltimore.  Eve recently signed on to the indie thriller ATM while Evans is wrapping up filming on Paul W.S. Anderson’s 3D adaptation of The Three Musketeers.  Hit the jump for what McTeigue had to say about The Raven to Steve back in November of last year.

Last week, we reported on the rumor that Fox was talking to a few actors such as Adrien Brody and Jonathan Rhys Meyers about coming on board for their planned 3D Fantasic Four reboot.  Now, a week later, we are starting to hear about the names of potential directors for the film.  According to the latest rumors [via CBM], the studio has directors Joe Carnahan (The A-Team), David Yates (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix), and James McTeigue (V for Vendetta) on their short list to helm the film. More on what we know about the film so far along with details about Bruce Willis voicing The Thing after the jump.

If you grew up in the 80′s, you’ll remember there was briefly a ninja phase in cinema. Sho Kosugi ruled the universe of Canon for one brief moment, and everywhere people were buying Tabbi boots. Children longed for shurikens, but would have to settle for the similarly-premised wacky wall-walkers. To sum up: The 1980′s were fucked up. There’s some enjoyable nostalgia to be found in Ninja Assassin, if you remember those days (and boots) fondly. Rain stars as Raizo, who was trained as a ninja, but now wants his revenge against his ninja family, including Ozunu (Kosugi). There’s also some government involvement, which allows Naomie Harris to have a role. My review of Ninja Assassin on Blu-ray after the jump.

It’s not only an honor just to be nominated for an Academy Award; it’s a major career boost.  Jeremy Renner, who received a nomination for Best Actor, is now receiving–like most first-time nominees in the major categories–a slew of offers.  The New York Times reports that Renner’s next project will be director James McTeigue’s (V for Vendetta)  indie period piece/thriller Raven with Ewan McGregor in talks to co-star.  The film is based on Edgar Allen Poe’s famous poem, but set in 1850′s Baltimore with a serial killer whose crimes mirror Poe’s work.  He spoke about the project in greater depth when Steve interviewed him back in November.

But the bigger news is that two blockbuster projects, both of which are set to shoot this summer, are competing to get the actor.  First, there’s Peter Berg’s Battleship, based on the board game but told as a naval-warfare story against aliens.  Then there’s a “secret project” where Renner has had five meetings to discuss playing the role, but he declined to say what it was.  That “secret project” has to be something massive if it’s enough to make Renner think twice about starring in a movie as big as Battleship.

A few days ago I attended the Los Angeles press junket for director James McTeigue’s Ninja Assassin.  While I already posted my four minute video interview with McTeigue and Rain (the lead in Ninja Assassin), I was able to get some extra time with McTeigue the following day.  Since I’m a huge fan of V for Vendetta and his work with the Wachowskis on Speed Racer, I decided to use my extended interview to ask about his other projects and home video questions.

So after the jump I try and get James McTeigue to tell me what the Wachowskis are working on, his next project on Edgar Allen Poe (The Raven), the Superman and Magneto rumors, what’s on the Ninja Assassin DVD/Blu-ray, could Hugo Weaving be in his Edgar Allen Poe movie, his thoughts on Star Wars (he was second unit director on Episode Two), extended edition DVDs, and a whole lot more!  It’s a great interview so take a look:

Opening this Wednesday is director James McTeigue’s (V for Vendetta) Ninja Assassin.  The film stars Asian superstar Rain in the title role and as you can put together from the title, it’s about Ninja’s.  And assassin’s.  The film is loaded with ninja action and blood, so if you’re into either of those things, this is pretty much a must see movie.  Finally, it’s produced by the Wachowski Brothers and Joel Silver (The Matrix Trilogy, V for Vendetta), and they’ve done a few things you might have liked…

A few days ago I sat down with Rain and James McTeigue to discuss making the movie, filming in Berlin, Comic-Con, and a lot more.  Check out what they had to say after the jump:

Opening on November 25^th is director James McTeigue’s Ninja Assassin.  The film stars Asian superstar Rain in the title role and as you can easily put together from the title, it’s about Ninja’s.  And assassin’s.  Also, the film is loaded with action and blood so if you’re into either of those things, this is pretty much a must see movie.  Finally, it’s produced by the Wachowski Brothers and Joel Silver (The Matrix Trilogy, V for Vendetta), and they’ve done a few things you might have liked….

Anyway, if you’d like a taste of the movie, after the jump you can watch six clips.  In the coming weeks check back for interviews with the cast and filmmakers.  Until then….

MTV aired a program tonight called “Behind the Screen” and they showed off new clips from “Jennifer’s Body”, “Ninja Assassin”, “2012″ and some behind the scenes footage from “Clash of the Titans”. Thanks to the magic of embedding, you can see the clips after the jump. Take a look:

James McTeigue (:’V for Vendetta’ and the upcoming “Ninja Assassin”) has been recently rumored to be one of the names that might reboot the Man of Steel.  McTeigue recently revealed some more info about what he has planned for his “Superman” film if he were to be given the chance.  McTeigue says “”I think if I was ever going to go near Superman, I would do a complete reboot-take it in a direction that you would absolutely not expect, actually,” Sounds great to me. To read what else McTeigue has to say about the Superman reboot hit the jump.

Everything is 100% more awesome when you do it with Lego. So if you’re like me and believe that statement, you’re going to need to see the video after the jump. That’s because Keshen8 on YouTube has posted his version of the “Ninja Assassin” trailer…except his version is made with Lego! It’s kind of great so take a look:

Warner Bros. has released a preview of their upcoming 2009 movies. In the preview, they’ve got updated synopsis’ along with new images from “Whiteout”, “Ninja Assassin”, “The Invention of Lying”, “The Informant!” and a few others. So if you’d like to see the new images and read what’s coming later this year (it’s a lot of great stuff), it’s all after the jump:

Peter over at /Film got the chance to interview “V for Vendetta” director James McTeigue, who revealed some interesting info on his next projects.  First up, a period thriller called “The Raven”, inspired by the life and mysterious death of the great Edgar Allan Poe. The story puts the author in the hunt for a serial killer whose crimes mirror the events of Poe’s gothic stories.  More on “The Raven” and what else McTeigue is up to after the jump.

When Warner Bros. announced their Comic-Con schedule, the first film I looked for was “Ninja Assassin”. After all, the film arrives in theaters November 25th, so it’s a perfect movie to promote at the convention. Also, as a big fan of “V for Vendetta” (which was the last pairing of the Wachowski Brothers and director James McTeigue), “Ninja Assassin” is on my must see list. So when it wasn’t on the list of films being promoted, I was a bit concerned.

But thanks to an extremely reliable source, I can report the reason they weren’t promoting the film during their panel is because they are showing the entire film at Comic-Con. And the best part for all of you, it’s open to the public! Want to know how to go, it’s after the jump: