The Peruvian director who earned some buzz for the action-fueled, CGI chase scene The Raven will have a chance to stretch his feature length legs now that Paramount has acquired the rights for the short. The plan is to have Justin Marks (the abysmal Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li) write the film as a starring vehicle for Mark Wahlberg.
The concerns here are obvious. The short is fun, but it’s just a chase scene, and while other shorts have had the foundation to become larger stories (like District 9), others turned out to be butter spread thin over far too much bread (like 9). The Raven doesn’t seem like it has the meat to be anything more substantial, but it also has the blank slate of potential that doesn’t have the burden of a plot. Either way, it’s good news for directors trying to make a mark with calling cards, it’s another chance for Paramount to dip into the world of sci-fi, and it’s another opportunity for Mark Wahlberg to run away from something shooting at him.
Check out the original short below:
What do you think?