Opening next weekend is director James McTeigue‘s (V for Vendetta, Ninja Assassin) The Raven.  If you’re not familiar with the film, the story takes place in 1840s Baltimore where a series of grisly murders appear to have been inspired by the works of Edgar Allan Poe (played by John Cusack).  Poe and a detective (Luke Evans) must team up to find the killer before he takes out the woman Poe loves (Alice Eve).  The film also stars Oliver Jackson-Cohen, and Brendan Gleeson.   For more on the film, here’s the trailer and 40 images.

During my wide ranging interview with McTeigue, we talked about making The Raven, the mixture of fact and fiction, film versus digital, his favorite director, actor and movie, the necessity of an R rating, future projects like Message from the King, The Gringo, and Ness/Capone (a retelling of the Eliot Ness/Al Capone myth that’s “nothing like The Untouchables”) and a lot more.  According to McTeigue, it seems like Message from the King is the one with the one with the most momentum, as he’s “going through the casting process of that at the moment” and it’s being produced by Aaron Ryder and FilmNation.  Hit the jump to watch. 

With director James McTeigue‘s (V for Vendetta, Ninja Assassin) The Raven opening April 27, yesterday afternoon I got to speak with him here in Los Angeles.  If you’re not familiar with The Raven, the story takes place in 1840s Baltimore where a series of grisly murders appear to have been inspired by the works of Edgar Allan Poe (played by John Cusack).  Poe and a detective (Luke Evans) must team up to find the killer before he takes out the woman Poe loves (Alice Eve).  The film also stars Oliver Jackson-Cohen, and Brendan Gleeson.   For more on the film, here’s the trailer and 40 images.

While I’ll have the full interview online the week of release, towards the end of our conversation, we discussed some of the projects he’s developing like Message from the King, The Gringo, and Ness/Capone (a retelling of the Eliot Ness/Al Capone myth that’s “nothing like The Untouchables”).  According to McTeigue, it seems like Message from the King is the one with any momentum, as he’s “going through the casting process of that at the moment” and it’s being produced by Aaron Ryder and FilmNation.  He says it’s an R rated picture that takes place in L.A. and it’s about “a mysterious outsider who comes into L.A. from South Africa looking for his sister who’s dropped off the radar.”  Hit the jump for more.

This past April, we reported that Relativity had bought the Black List script Ness/Capone to rival Warner Bros.’ Al Capone story Cicero. Harry Potter director David Yates has been developing Cicero for quite some time, with Tom Hardy attached to star, but he recently committed to a multi-film adaptation of The Stand, so it may be a while before Cicero gets going. Well, Relativity looks to be taking advantage of Yates’ busy schedule as they’re turning to V for Vendetta director James McTeigue to helm to crime drama.

Deadline reports that McTeigue is in negotiations to helm the pic, which chronicles the Elliott Ness/Al Capone saga in more detail than Brian De Palma’s The Untouchables. McTeigue, who recently completed the Edgar Allen Poe flick The Raven, is currently readying his next film Message From the King which centers on an outsider who travels to L.A. to investigate the disappearance of his sister.

We are approaching the 25-year anniversary of The Untouchables, which is just enough time to breed a new generation of moviegoers for whom Kevin Costner and Robert De Niro aren’t necessarily the definitive on-screen embodiment of Eliot Ness and Al Capone.  You’re in luck, generation that I sheepishly belong to.  Relativity and Warner Bros. are both developing Capone-centric projects to address this hole in your life.

Relativity Media head Ryan Kavanaugh acquired Ness/Capone, a Black List script by Grant Pierce Myers with a less reverential approach to Ness’ moral fiber than Costner’s performance.  Relativity is one of three studios engaged in the Snow White free-for-all right now, and Kavanaugh has to be encouraged his entry, The Brothers Grimm: Snow White, hits theaters first in June 2012.  Such confidence is evident in the Ness/Capone buy, Relativity’s challenge to Warner Bros  lsjdflksjdflksjdlkfjs.  The latter studio is in development on Cicero, a Capone “origin story” scripted by Walon Green (Law & Order: Criminal Intent).  More on both projects after the jump.