If Edgar Allan Poe isn’t the hottest commodity in entertainment right now, he’s near the top. Dude is seeing a revival in a big way recently: John Cusack is playing him in THE RAVEN, Jeffrey Combs portrayed him in an extremely successful one-man show and ABC is gearing up a series about the legendary author (turned imaginary sleuth). Now he’s getting re-animated, so to speak, by former Disney animator Raul Garcia and Belgium company The Big Farm for a potentially cool new project.
The project in question is EXTRAORDINARY TALES, an animated 3D anthology based on a few of Poe’s tales. The film follows Garcia’s 2005 B&W short “The Tell Tale Heart”, which will be included in the feature, along with “The Fall of the House of Usher” – which channels Norwegian expressionist Edvard Munch – and “The Facts in the Case of Mr. Valdemar”, which draws on the look of U.S. 40s-50s comicbooks.
Two other Poe stories will complete the five tales, although those titles haven’t been revealed yet.
Here’s some added awesomeness: A Bela Lugosi radio recording provided voiceover on “Tell-Tale Heart”, while Christopher Lee lends his voice to “House of Usher.”
EXTRAORDINARY TALES will apparently be ready by the summer of 2012, at which point it will seek out distribution. For now, check out a teaser for Garcia’s creepy-looking “Tell-Tale Heart” below and get an idea of what’s in store.