Stylish Dystopian Short "The Raven" to Become Full Blown Feature Film

[Logan Westbrook]

Stylish Dystopian Short "The Raven" to Become Full Blown Feature Film

A short movie depicting a telekinetic man's battles against robotic police droids in a near future dystopia is about to get a whole lot longer.


Ricardo de Montreuil's short film The Raven appeared on the internet back in April, and won acclaim from all quarters. Now the movie, which was filmed in two days and cost just $5,000 to make, has attracted the attention of Universal Studios, who wants to expand it into a full length feature film.

In The Raven, Chris Black is on the run from the authorities in a futuristic Los Angeles. Black has telekinetic powers that - according to the film makers - could lead to the destruction of the current regime, and so is marked for death and relentlessly pursued. Black is forced to use his powers to defend himself, ending with him building up a massive surge at the end of the short.

It seems like a safe bet that the short was meant to be a movie pitch, much like the impressive Mortal Kombat [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/101195-Mystery-Mortal-Kombat-Trailer-Will-Blow-You-Away] short from last month. The pitch was clearly successful, which hopefully means that in a year or two we'll have an exciting new sci-fi movie to watch.

Universal is apparently talking to Mark Wahlberg to produce and star in the big screen version, with de Montreuil directing and Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li writer Justin Marks working on the script. This will be de Montreuil's first Hollywood movie, although he has a number of other short films and two Spanish language feature films under his belt.

Source: Latino Review [http://www.latinoreview.com/news/exclusive-hot-short-film-the-raven-lands-at-a-studio-10529] via io9 [http://io9.com/5590074/5000-dystopian-short-film-the-raven-to-be-full-length-could-possibly-star-mark-walhberg]


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[FallenRainbows]

Well that was awesome. You know what, the full film adaptation couldn't come soon enough.

 

[Blue Musician]

HOLY ****!
I say this video a long time ago, but wasn't it expecting to become a movie!!
If the trailers released look good, I will probably see it the day it launches.

 

[Banana Phone Man]

Well I look forward to the full film because I was captivated by that video. It was very interesting to watch.

 

[Not G. Ivingname]

Snip

Why is the writer of STREET FIGHTER: LEGEND OF CHUM LEE writing what looks like the work of genius?

 

[qazmatoz]

I was intrigued until I saw that the guy who wrote that Street Fighter abomination was in charge of the screen play.

 

[FieryTrainwreck]

He's also adapting Shadow of the Colossus.

Interviews suggest he's not totally inept, so I wouldn't worry too much about his involvement.

As for the short film: decent concept, but desperately needs that bigger budget.

 

[Drakmeire]

oh... Ok that sounds cool, I thought you were talking about the Edgar Allan Poe Raven
Hope it turns out good.

 

[Johnnyallstar]

oh... Ok that sounds cool, I thought you were talking about the Edgar Allan Poe Raven
Hope it turns out good.

That's what I was thinking. I was about to say NO NO NO NO NO THAT'S SACRILEGIOUS. But otherwise, looks alright.

 

[Dioxide20]

Very similar to Neil Blomkamp's style of movie. Looks really cool.

 

[Therumancer]

Very iffy. While the plot is a bit differant (though stereotypical in it's own way), very similar material has been used for various "Scanners" movies (they did a ton of them) and of course "Push".

We'll see where it goes, but it's hard to get excited about.

A good short does not mean the same material can be turned into a good feature length film. In a five minute pitch there isn't all that much that can go wrong, you can be right to the point, that doesn't mean that extending something like this into two hours is going to work.

But hey "Telekinetic Vs. oppressive regime with robots" isn't a bad premise for a movie. In the end though I think it will have more to do with the FX guys than the choice of actor or even the script.

 

[s_glasgow99]

How can a no-plot action short get a green light for a hollywood budget feature? Here in Canada we can barely get funding together to make a moderately budgeted film with a good idea. Now these FX clowns go make a 'flashy short' (I've seen better FX in a lot of stuff out there) and get a studio green light...
I wish I could see some kind of a purpose and story behind this but from the short, nothing more than X-Men/Robocop/Parkour video.

 

[viranimus]

I dunno... knowing how the movie industry posesses the uncanny ability to foul up a steel ball, I could easily change from the premise it has now, to being transformed to a film adaptation of prototype in the hope to cash in on an existing IP and this scene acting as the basic epilogue.

 

[Rigs83]

I have said it once before and I will say it again...[HEADING=1]Hollywood=Fail[/HEADING]
I hope the creators gets enough money to go independent on the next flick but having Mark Wahlberg and the screenwriter to the last Street Fighter movie attached sounds like fail to me.
George Lucas despite all his recent atrocities created the first Star Wars movie with little support or confidence from Fox Studios and he created one of the all time top grossing epics of all time. Now theses days you can do so much more and reach such a very wide audience without studio backing I wonder why so many want to cow tow to the studios.

 

[Korten12]

I have said it once before and I will say it again...[HEADING=1]Hollywood=Fail[/HEADING]
I hope the creators gets enough money to go independent on the next flick but having Mark Wahlberg and the screenwriter to the last Street Fighter movie attached sounds like fail to me.
George Lucas despite all his recent atrocities created the first Star Wars movie with little support or confidence from Fox Studios and he created one of the all time top grossing epics of all time. Now theses days you can do so much more and reach such a very wide audience without studio backing I wonder why so many want to cow tow to the studios.

when you say latest atrocities do you mean the 1, 2nd and 3rd star wars movies? If so I don't get the hate for them. I loved them and no matter how many times I watch them never see any problem with them.

 

[Rigs83]

I have said it once before and I will say it again...[HEADING=1]Hollywood=Fail[/HEADING]
I hope the creators gets enough money to go independent on the next flick but having Mark Wahlberg and the screenwriter to the last Street Fighter movie attached sounds like fail to me.
George Lucas despite all his recent atrocities created the first Star Wars movie with little support or confidence from Fox Studios and he created one of the all time top grossing epics of all time. Now theses days you can do so much more and reach such a very wide audience without studio backing I wonder why so many want to cow tow to the studios.

when you say latest atrocities do you mean the 1, 2nd and 3rd star wars movies? If so I don't get the hate for them. I loved them and no matter how many times I watch them never see any problem with them.

[/youtube]

 

[latenightapplepie]

Looks interesting. There has to be more substance in a feature film however. Mark Wahlberg as Chris Black? No thanks. I don't enjoy his acting. Or his face. If he's able, I think Victor Lopez should stay in the role.

 

[L33tsauce_Marty]

Oh yeah I saw this on Video Copilot a while ago. It was pretty damn good.

 

[Tolkienfanatic]

Very similar to Neil Blomkamp's style of movie. Looks really cool.

Was just about to say, District 9 took this same route and was a success. I hope it can be repeated.

 

[AvsJoe]

Someone tell me why the guys in charge think that getting Marky Mark to star in this movie will be a good move? Hell, why not Michael Jai White? Awesome actor and martial artist, and other than the MK Rebirth trailer and his small role in Dark Knight, he hasn't done anything of note since 2001.