The Christian Bale starrer thriller on Netflix, The Pale Blue Eye investigates the series of murders that eventually led to the creation of Edgar Allen Poe, the world-famous author, renowned for his works like The Raven, and The Tell-Tale Heart among many others. The writer’s life is shrouded in mystery and death which has irked many artists and fans of Poe.
One of them is Sylvester Stallone, like Poe, he too is a renowned and respected filmmaker, and one the most loved dreams of Stallone is to make a biography of Poe. Stallone himself is an icon after playing the role of Rocky Balboa, in the film Rocky which won him an Oscar for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Film Editing.
Sylvester Stallone has been wanting to make a Biography
The filmmaker has talked about making a biography of Edgar Allen Poe in numerous interviews and talk shows. He describes why Poe as a human fascinated him so much,
“What fascinates me about Poe is that he was such an iconoclast. It’s a story for every young man or woman who sees themselves as a bit outside the box or has been ostracized during their life as an oddball or too eccentric.”
He continues,
“It didn’t work for him either…His work was to hip for the room…but he developed the modern mystery story. He was also one of the great cryptologists; there were very few codes he couldn’t crack. He was just an extraordinary guy.”
Stallone himself struggled quite a bit in New York city trying to enter the Hollywood industry and make it big as an actor. He knocked on every door from 1969 to 1970 until he performed a critically acclaimed role as Stanley Rosiello in The Lords of Flatbush.
Sylvester Stallone had considered Robert Downey Jr. for the role
The filmmaker’s first choice to play Edgar Allen Poe on screen was Iron Man star Robert Downey Jr. Unfortunately the director approached him before Downey made it big as Tony Stark in Marvel.
We are well aware that before Iron Man – Downey was involved in quite some controversies and legal issues. Due to those Stallone put the film on hold. Downey later talked about this entire episode and sportingly said,
“I do admit I had dinner with Sly; not ashamed of it, it was a blast. He wrote a great script. He said I should wait until I’m hot again. ‘We should wait until you’re hot again so we can do this at a big studio. I don’t want to do this cheap,’”
He joked,
“Well, maybe he meant we. He’s a great guy. Smart. Flava Flav came over to the table. ‘Are you and Flava Flav playing Poe?’ Yes, we are. It’s just too tough a role; it needs two actors,”
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Stallone has not given up on his dreams, he once posted on his Instagram how badly he wants to do the biopic. The director expressed his passion for the project and his unwillingness to give up.