Taking a break from the action movie scene is actress Kate Beckinsale, who has raked in the big bucks with the Underworld series, as well as her recent role opposite Colin Farrell in the Total Recall remake. The English-born Beckinsale is rumored to play the titular role in the upcoming Eliza Graves, based on an Edgar Allan Poe short story from 1845 originally called “The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The story follows a modern-day “Eliza, a Harvard Medical School grad, who takes a job at an insane asylum, falling for one of the doctors but then discovering that the occupants have taken it over.” Under the direction of Brad Anderson (The Call), the short story’s script is written by Joe Gangemi (Wind Chill), which is scheduled to begin production in Bulgaria in June.
The lesser known story by Poe is considered a comedic short story that examines the treatment of patients in mental facilities as though they were criminals, at the same time of an increase in acquittals of criminals who used the insanity defense. Additionally, the plot looks at the way a system is meant to reform the mentally ill, yet Poe plays with the roles of keepers and patients in an interesting sequence of events.
Poe is very popular these days after last year’s flop in The Raven, starring John Cusack, but also FOX’s The Following with Kevin Bacon is making headlines for its gruesome violence revolving around a killer obsessed with Poe’s work.
Have you ever read Poe’s original story? Are you looking forward to seeing this story reinterpreted with Beckinsale in the starring role?
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