Originally announced three years ago with “Paranormal Activity” director Oren Peli at the helm, the long-brewing Edgar Allan Poe-inspired project “Eliza Graves” is now moving forward with “The Machinist” helmer Brad Anderson in the director’s chair. And he’s added two big names to appear alongside Kate Beckinsale and Jim Sturgess.
Deadline is reporting that Sirs Michael Caine and Ben Kingsley will be taking a break from blockbuster tentpoles and appearing in the thriller. There’s no word on their roles, so expect them to be important to the mystery of the film. Written by Joe Gangemi, the movie is based on a Poe short story that centers on Sturgess as a turn-of-the-century medical school graduate who takes a job at an insane asylum and falls in love with a beautiful patient, Beckinsale. Their relationship grows more complicated when it becomes apparent that the asylum has been taken over by its occupants.
Everybody involved, quite frankly, has had a hit-or-miss few years — for every “Shutter Island” Kingsley has a “Love Guru” — and with Anderson last delivering the terrible Halle Berry-starring “The Call” earlier this year, our expectations are fairly low. “Eliza Graves” starts shooting this summer on June 24th for release sometime next year.