As District 9 illustrated last year, it’s an exciting time for young, technically gifted film-makers to use short films/test reels as a way of showcasing their talents and nabbing that highly sought-after Hollywood feature deal.
I remember seeing an impressive short called The Raven (embedded below) by filmmaker Ricardo de Montreuil a few months back and thinking then that it would only be a matter of time before I’d hear from him again.
Well, here the news!
Latino Review has just confirmed that Mark Wahlberg is in talks to produce and take the leading role in the feature-length version at Universal. Montreuil is still on board as director and up-and-coming scribe Justin Marks will pen the script.
This is extremely encouraging news and proves that studios are not only willing to sit up and take notice of fresh and untested talent, but that they are also happy to offer them the opportunity to director, and not just hand the reins over to some seasoned, bankable director.
This follows the recent saga of Carl Erik Rinsch’s Parallel Lines short The Gift being picked up, check out all the news on that film here.
And if you’ve not seen The Raven be sure to check it out now in HD.
As reported by Adam Lowes.
