Harry Melling, who played Dudley Dursley in several of the Harry Potter films, is now taking on the role of a young Edgar Allan Poe for Netflix’s The Pale Blue Eye adaptation, which has also already cast Christian Bale. Melling is no stranger to Netflix; he recently acted alongside Anya Taylor-Joy in the streaming service’s hit drama miniseries, The Queen’s Gambit. Melling can also be seen in a couple other Netflix projects, including The Old Guard and The Devil All the Time.
Per Deadline, Melling is teaming up with Netflix yet again to play Poe in the year 1830, more than a decade before the renowned poet would go on to write the classic poem, “The Raven.” Louis Bayard’s novel, also titled The Pale Blue Eye, is serving as inspiration for this upcoming murder mystery film. In the novel, Poe is a cadet at West Point who helps detective Augustus Landor (Bale) investigate another cadet’s death.
Scott Cooper will be directing Melling and Bale in the film adaptation of The Pale Blue Eye. Cooper and Bale will also be producers on the movie with John Lesher and Tyler Thompson. Cross Creek Pictures is producing and financing the film. Cooper and Bale have already established a working relationship prior to The Pale Blue Eye; Cooper directed Bale in 2013’s Out of the Furnace and again in 2017’s Hostiles. Cooper has been working to bring Bayard’s mystery novel to life for more than 10 years, and it’s finally starting to come together now that the two leading actors have been selected.
Source: Deadline