‘The Pale Blue Eye’: Christian Bale Reteams With Scott Cooper For Historical Mystery Featuring Young Edgar Allan Poe

It seems Christian Bale and director Scott Cooper have decided their careers will stay intertwined. In 2013 they first collaborated on Out of the Furnace, followed four years later by Hostiles. And now, with the same amount of time in-between, they’re together again for a film titled The Pale Blue Eye.

Deadline reports Bale will star in an adaptation of Louis Bayer’s historical mystery novel, The Pale Blue Eye, which Cooper will write and direct. The story follows the murder of a West Point academy cadet in 1830, and a retired detective brought in to solve the case, drawing the attention of young recruit 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.”

“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.”

Next up for Cooper is the oft-delayed horror Antlers, while Bale plays villain Gorr the God Butcher in Marvel’s Thor: Love & Thunder.

 

Travis Hopson
Travis Hopson has been reviewing movies before he even knew there was such a thing. Having grown up on a combination of bad '80s movies, pro wrestling, comic books, and hip-hop, Travis is uniquely positioned to geek out on just about everything under the sun. A vampire who walks during the day and refuses to sleep, Travis is the co-creator and lead writer for Punch Drunk Critics. He is also a contributor to Good Morning Washington, WBAL Morning News, and WETA Around Town. In the five minutes a day he's not working, Travis is also a voice actor, podcaster, and Twitch gamer. Travis is a voting member of the Critics Choice Association (CCA), Washington DC Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA), and Late Night programmer for the Lakefront Film Festival.