One of the more bizarre projects floating around for a surprisingly long time is Sylvester Stallone’s POE, Sly’s Edgar Allan Poe bio that has been talked about for what seems like forever. At one point, Robert Downey Jr. was “attached,” although obviously that never came together (I did once read a quote from Downey saying the script Stallone wrote was “great.”).
Now that ROCKY BALBOA has brought Stallone some new acclaim and fanboys are holding their crotches with anticipation over RAMBO, POE is back in the rumor-mill, with a new name being bandied about to portray the troubled genius: Viggggooooooo Mortensen! (Sorry, just feel like his name oughta be hollered by a wrestling announcer.)
A source of Cinema Blend’s is claiming that Mortensen has been offered the role of Poe, and that Mortensen is open to the job as long as the script gets a rewrite or two first (read the article HERE).
I’m looking forward to this movie in sort of an abstract way, as honestly, who in their right mind wouldn’t want to see how this film would turn out? If Mortensen ends up coming aboard, I’ve got to believe that Stallone’s vision is indeed promising. Don’t expect this project to come together with the quickness though – Mortensen will begin filming THE ROAD soon for John Hillcoat and is still working on APPALOOSA with Ed Harris. Meanwhile Stallone has mentioned that he wants to step into John Rambo’s boots at least one more time, and that could conceivably happen if the latest entry lives up to the hype. Oh, and there’s also a strike going on, throwing a wrench into those rewrites Viggggggooooo requires.