The first image of John Cusack as Edgar Allen Poe in the thriller The Raven has landed online. Directed by James McTeigue (V for Vendetta), the film is set in 1849 and stars Cusack as the iconic author/poet who joins forces with a detective in hopes of stopping a murderer who is inspired by Poe's work. Luke Evans, Alice Eve, and Brendan Gleeson also star in the pic. I'm really liking the Se7en vibe the logline gives and, as a fan of both Poe and Cusack, I'm pretty excited about checking this one out when it hits theaters on March 9th, 2012.

Update: The official synopsis has been sent out.  It's below the picture.

Here's the pic:

john-cusack-the-raven-image

Directed by: James McTeigue

Written by:  Ben Livingston and Hannah Shakespeare

Cast: John Cusack, Luke Evans, Alice Eve, Brendan Gleeson and Oliver Jackson-Cohen

Produced by: Mark D Evans, Trevor Macy, and Aaron Ryder

Executive Producer: Jesus Martinez

Synopsis:

In this gritty thriller, Edgar Allen Poe (John Cusack, Being John Malkovich) joins forces with a young Baltimore detective (Luke Evans, Immortals) to hunt down a mad serial killer who’s using Poe’s own works as the basis in a string of brutal murders. Directed by James McTeigue (V for Vendetta), the film also stars Alice Eve (Sex and the City 2), Brendan Gleeson (In Bruges) and Oliver Jackson-Cohen (Faster).

When a mother and daughter are found brutally murdered in 19th century Baltimore, Detective Emmett Fields (Luke Evans) makes a startling discovery: the crime resembles a fictional murder described in gory detail in the local newspaper—part of a collection of stories penned by struggling writer and social pariah Edgar Allan Poe. But even as Poe is questioned by police, another grisly murder occurs, also inspired by a popular Poe story.

Realizing a serial killer is on the loose using Poe’s writings as the backdrop for his bloody rampage, Fields enlists the author’s help in stopping the attacks. But when it appears someone close to Poe may become the murderer’s next victim, the stakes become even higher and the inventor of the detective story calls on his own powers of deduction to try to solve the case before it’s too late.