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Roger Corman Producing Eight Adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe Tales

by Ben Pearson
December 20, 2012
Source: THR

Genre legend Roger Corman was a mentor figure to filmmakers like as James Cameron, Ron Howard, Martin Scorsese, and Curtis Hanson as they were coming up in the industry, but the talented producer/actor/director made a name for himself before that directing B-movie classics back in the 50s and 60s. He's best known for his film adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe's work which teamed him with actor Vincent Price, and now THR says that Corman is returning to his roots by producing eight new film adaptations of Poe's stories. First up is House of Usher, written by Mike McClain (The Haunted), which shoots next year.

House of Usher will film sometime 2013, and two movies per year are slated to be made after that, including The Pit and the Pendulum, Premature Burial, Tales of Terror, The Raven, The Hunted Palace, The Masque of the Red Death and The Tomb of Ligeia. And though those are all titles he's tackled before, Corman doesn't plan on doing straight stylistic remakes of his old work. He told THR:

"Now being able to do them in 3D and with a lot of computer graphics, we can do things we never dreamed of doing before."

It'll be interesting to see how he blends Poe's creepy storytelling with modern technology, but we're certain these low-budget efforts will turn out better than James McTeigue's The Raven from earlier this year. I remember seeing the original House of Usher when I was little, and Price's eerie performance freaked the hell out of me. Replacing Price, who passed away in 1993, is Corman's chief concern now, and the producer is reportedly looking for a fiftysomething actor from TV who can match Prices's "sensitivity and neuroticism." May I suggest Bryan Cranston? "Breaking Bad" is about to end, so it seems like a good fit.

Filed under Development, Movie News

From around the web:

Big Boss

Yeah, because The Raven turned out SO well..
- Ay Naigh
  
  If they stick to actual stories written by Poe stay true to the period with historic accuracy and not try to add some idiotic serial killer plot or add zombies or sparkly vampires to it, it could turn out o.k.
  - Big Boss
    
    You're asking alot from Hollywood, my friend. lol
    - Craig
      
      Yeah, especially when Corman is talking about 3D and CGI.
      - anotherdouchebagwithopinions
        
        It could still be good if the focus is on Poes stories and not the CGI and 3D
Craig

No love for Annabel Lee?
Blue Silver

I thought, "The Raven" was a good movie! It was sorely underrated! Cusack made the movie come alive!
- So?
  
  Cusack is good in everything.Even that pop corn orgy of 2012 end of the world horse crap.Raven was just kinda meh.Poes actual life is wonderfully strange it did not need some made up serial killer schlock.