John Cusack as Edgar Allan Poe, coming fall 2011

[ UPDATE: I have removed the wonderful snapshots that previously appeared in this post, at the request of the movie studio involved. I hope to sort things out with the parties involved and re-publish them again. XJ ]

Edgar Allen Poe's birthday seems like a good day to point out that Boing Boing pal John Cusack will star in the movie The Raven, due out this fall and directed by James McTeigue (V for Vendetta).

More snapshots, and more guest posts from Cusack, are on the way when our blog-pal returns from Argentina.

Above, a photo he snapped on the set (I believe in Serbia.)

Below, Cusack in full-on Poe (via HuffPo). Amazing, right? Man, I can't wait to see this.

Boing Boing editor/partner and tech culture journalist Xeni Jardin hosts and produces Boing Boing's in-flight TV channel on Virgin America airlines (#10 on the dial), and writes about living with breast cancer. Diagnosed in 2011. @xeni on Twitter. email: xeni@boingboing.net.

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franko

what the hell… i commented earlier in the other thread about the poe toaster about this very thing, with the very same link to the huffpo article with the bottom image, and now that comment is mysteriously NOT THERE. it’s a mystery worthy of poe himself. o.O
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  That’s messed up. The system says that it’s there….but it isn’t. I just unapproved and re-approved it.
  - franko
    
    thank you, sir. i find it fitting that something so mysterious happened during a poe post. : )
grobda

surely… SURELY, that was a job for Bill Murray.
Calimecita

What, he’s HERE? *Where* in Argentina, whereeeee!! (cry fades into wailing sob)
OK, John, if you’re reading this, I am NOT a crazy fan. I swear I haven’t even seen all your films. But I sure would love to see you walking down the street! :-D

And I’m sure he’ll be a fantastic Poe.
seyo

What’s NOT cool is that they are drinking Fiji water out of plastic bottles. NOT COOL. Everything else is super cool though, even the goatees.
penguinchris

Goatees really are awful… and frankly I’m not sure it matters if Poe himself always wore one, and he only had the mustache for a week which happened to be when the famous photo was taken. I’m sure they’re not going for 100% historical accuracy, and the mustache in the photo looks great, and the goatee on Cusack… doesn’t.

I mean really, the fact is I’ve *never* seen a goatee that looked good. Usually they make whoever’s wearing it look like an asshole (in this case he doesn’t look like an asshole, but it doesn’t look good either). *Why* are they popular, especially in film these days?
kmoser

Is it me, or does Cusack look nothing at all like Poe?
- Jake0748
  
  No, its not just you. :)
  Also can’t wait to see the film though.
- Anonymous
  
  All bones and everything?
Gilmoid1

I hate to say this, but Cusack’s Poe looks like Edward Norton.
- Sekino
  
  Yep. The instant I saw the bottom pic, I saw Norton in ‘The Illusionist’… Not that it’s a bad thing in my *ahem* eyes…
baph

To be totally pedantic, that’s a circle beard, or “genial”, not a goatee, although one of its elements is a goatee. Goatee refers to the chin-growth only.

I prefer the Van Dyke to the circle beard; in the Van Dyke variation, the mustache and beard are generally left unconnected, and the wearer ends up looking like a totally bitchin’ conquistador, especially when the mustache is curled upward, which has nothing to do with Poe and I apologize for this interruption.
- Donald Petersen
  
  I grow a van Dyke simply because I don’t have the follicles to connect the ‘stache to the beard. Now and then I try to get the mustachios curled upward a la Rollie Fingers, but I have yet to commit to actually hunting down and purchasing mustache wax.
  
  “Totally bitchin’ conquistador” is, in fact, exactly the look I seek. Except maybe for the helmet and bloodthirsty imperialism.
hoffmanbike

Quoth the raven “Two bottles of Fiji unopened and chilled.”
TomDArch

Another strong call for Bill Murray! I loves me some Cusack (man, I haven’t seen Grosse Pointe Blank in a while!), but on lots of levels I’d really, really like to see Murray as Poe!
Anonymous

He just made Poe hot with that goatee. I have faith he will deliver it proper….
Cunning

This man would have been casting genius.
AlmostLucy

I don’t think there are any major actors working today with the right level of asymmetry to properly be Poe.
Anonymous

Wasn’t there also supposed to be an Edgar Allan Poe film titled “Poe” that starred Robert Downey Jr and directed by Sly Stallone?
Anonymous

Quoth the paperboy, “Two dollars more!”
hastepost

I thought of Bill Murray first glance, same as Cunning.
Tony Moore

Does he have to have Iron Man’s goatee? and can’t Nicotero or somebody put the trademark bags under his eyes? Seems like simple enough look to commit to film.

other than that, i’m really looking forward to it. i have fait it could be really cool.
thequickbrownfox

Way cool.
jkg

he looks like Robert Downey Jr.’s older brother in that last one
Anonymous

Coincidentally, today just happens to be Poe’s 202nd birthday.
dollarama

Bah I hate goatees. Why does he have a goatee and not the Poe stache!
- Brainspore
  
  Anybody know if Poe ever had a goatee? I know we all think of that ‘stache as a permanent feature since it’s the most famous Poe photo but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s representative of his whole adult life. Lincoln didn’t have that beard when he ran for president, after all.
BotchTheCrab

It’s too bad that Jeffrey Combs doesn’t have the bankable notoriety to carry this, because MAN he really looks like Poe and has been playing him for a while. Check out pictures of him in costume: http://www.google.com/images?q=jeffrey+combs+poe
- cls
  
  Jeffrey Combs is amazing as Poe. I haven’t seen the stage play, but I saw him do a bit at a Star Trek convention last year and it gave me chills.
- Donald Petersen
  
  Man, you’re right about Combs… he’s great. Check him out in the Masters of Horror episode “The Black Cat.”
  
  Uh… unless you actually like cats. It’s pretty brutal.
- genre slur
  
  Woah. Good call. Really appreciate Cusack (Better off Dead was my cherry), but Coombs is a fine actor and has a natural resemblance, Regardless, I’ll be watching the new one.
W. James Au

But will Cusack re-enact the incident when Poe was at West Point and he showed up at a full dress review, butt nekkid wearing nothing but his sword?
- knoxblox
  
  By my understanding, this is just an urban legend. Poe was dismissed from West Point for “Gross neglect of duty” and “Disobedience of orders”, according to the Poe Museum in Richmond, Virginia.