Last week, we learned that Christian Bale is re-teaming with his Out of the Furnace and Hostiles director Scott Cooper for a Gothic serial killer horror-thriller called The Pale Blue Eye, and now it has been announced that Netflix has purchased the film's worldwide distribution rights for the price of $55 million. There was no mention of when Netflix intends to release the film, which won't go into production until later this year.
Based on a novel by Louis Bayard (pick up a copy HERE), The Pale Blue Eye will follow
the attempt to solve a series of murders that took place in 1830 at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Bale will play a veteran detective who investigates the murders, helped by a detail-oriented young cadet who will later become a world famous author, Edgar Allan Poe.
The actor who will be playing the young Edgar Allan Poe has not yet been cast.
Here's the description of Bayard's novel:
At West Point Academy in 1830, the calm of an October evening is shattered by the discovery of a young cadet's body swinging from a rope. The next morning, an even greater horror comes to light. Someone has removed the dead man's heart. Augustus Landor—who acquired some renown in his years as a New York City police detective—is called in to discreetly investigate. It's a baffling case Landor must pursue in secret, for the scandal could do irreparable damage to the fledgling institution. But he finds help from an unexpected ally—a moody, young cadet with a penchant for drink, two volumes of poetry to his name, and a murky past that changes from telling to telling. The strange and haunted Southern poet for whom Landor develops a fatherly affection, is named Edgar Allan Poe.
The Pale Blue Eye is being financed and produced by Cross Creek. Bale and Cooper are also producing the film alongside John Lesher and Tyler Thompson.
This film sounds very promising, so the distribution deal seems like yet another major score for Netflix.