Universal has picked up the rights to Ricardo de Montreuil’s short film The Raven, which is being developed as a starring vehicle for Mark Wahlberg, who is also attached to produce, reports THR. It’s just one of many films Wahlberg has in the works, including Teddy Bear, Contraband and Uncharted, and at the moment it isn’t certain how the Raven will fit in.
In case you’re wondering, this is a completely different movie (but with the same name) to the one about Edgar Allen Poe’s final days, which is currently shooting with John Cusack, Luke Evans and Alice Eve starring. Wahlberg’s one will be scripted by Justin Marks and is based on a sci-fi short.
The Raven short was release by Peruvian born de Montreuil earlier this year as a Hollywood calling card. It was part of a wave of such films late last winter in the spring, when many up-and-coming filmmakers, with studio aspirations, released their own mini-movies in the hopes of igniting interest in themselves. While many succeeded, de Montreuil’s Raven has lagged. It nearly reached a deal in the summer, but that fell through (due to how fast the production would have to be completed), but now the pieces have come together
The Raven focuses on a young man with special powers, who is being chased around downtown Los Angeles by robotic police drones, while a giant police ship coordinates the effort from the skies above.
Even if a deal hadn’t come together for The Raven, it had already worked for de Montreuil, who recently closed a deal to direct the coming-of-age drama Lowriders for Universal.
Take a look at the original Raven short below.