Edgar Allan Poe, crime fighter? Er, not really, but V For Vendetta director James McTeigue is planning a fictional work that casts the famous author of gothic horror in that role.

The Raven, according to Sci Fi Wire, is a planned film that will have a 40something Poe being challenged by a serial killer to solve a series of murders based on the author's own works.

The film will be set in 1850s Baltimore and McTeigue is in the middle of casting it with an eye to filming getting under way in mid-March.

Sounds ... fascinating, especially if McTeigue can get the right performer to play Poe. Anyone remember that Sylvester Stallone once said his dream role was to play Edgar Allan Poe? Go for it, Sly!