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Hollywood Pays Tribute To Poe's 'The Raven' With Film

BALTIMORE (WJZ)-- It is never too late for your close-up.

Alex DeMetrick reports Edgar Allan Poe died 162 years ago in Baltimore, but is about to be resurrected by Hollywood.

Poe died Oct. 7, 1849, and he was buried at the Westminster Cemetery in Baltimore.

It is a day often marked with a rose and his poetry:

"Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,
Over a many quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore..." recited Baltimore actor Tony Tsendeas.

Suddenly there came a tapping, of Hollywood not-so-gently rapping...

Yes, that poem turned to movie title. And Friday, it was a promotional event with a date too good to ignore.

The film's director and one of its lead actors visited the city the movie is set in.

"I really love the way it sort of melded aspects of Poe's life with Poe's stories," said James McTeigue, director of "The Raven."

"To catch the killer and put Baltimore back to where it was," actor Luke Evans explained. "Unfortunately, he has to work with what he believes is some vulgar writer who entertains people with these murders that my character has to deal with in reality."

Actor John Cusak plays Poe, and was a no-show except on-screen.

While set in Baltimore, the movie was actually shot in Romania although Baltimore does get a brief cameo.

"One of the first shots in the film, you see the Baltimore Harbor, you see the Washington Monument, if you look closely," McTeigue said.

Still, a bit of showmanship came to town: a procession led by the filmmakers to Poe's grave.

If you want to see the movie, you'll have to wait until next March for its release.

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