It has been almost a full decade since the release of 2013’s “Out of the Furnace,” the sophomore film from filmmaker Scott Cooper and the first time he and Christian Bale collaborated on a feature. Four years later, the duo reunited for the Western, “Hostiles.” And now, seemingly like clockwork, Bale and Cooper are joining forces four years after “Hostiles” to work on a new feature, “The Pale Blue Eye.”
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According to Deadline, Christian Bale has signed on to star in the lead role in “The Pale Blue Eye,” from writer-director Scott Cooper. The film is based on the Louis Bayard novel of the same name and follows the story of a series of murders at the US Military Academy at West Point in 1830. Bale will portray a veteran detective assigned to solve the murders, and who receives help from a young cadet that would go on to become the legendary writer, Edgar Allan Poe.
“Even though Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston and died, delirious, in Baltimore, the majority of his life was spent in Virginia, my home state,” Cooper said. “So I grew up with his presence. He bequeathed us the detective genre, and he’s still such a presence in our culture, with every horror, mystery, and science fiction writer indebted to Poe.”
He continued, “This is my attempt at a large canvas whodunit, with a serial killer at its center. I want to make films that push me into a different, maybe uncomfortable space, but I am glad to have Christian go there with me. I’ve wanted to make this for over a decade and fortunately for me, Christian has perfectly aged into the lead character. He was far too young when I first thought of making this. Films are meant to happen at the right time. Christian is always in high demand, but to be able to make this with him will be such a joy for me.”
As mentioned, Cooper and Bale have worked together on the underrated films, “Out of the Furnace” and “Hostiles.” Since their 2017 film, Cooper has gone on to direct “Antlers,” which has been delayed until this fall and Bale has worked on a number of projects. The actor will next be seen in the Marvel Studios film, “Thor: Love and Thunder,” and is currently filming a new feature from David O. Russell.