The Pale Blue Eye: Release Date, Cast, And More For The Christian Bale Netflix Movie

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Hot off his rather surprising appearance as the main villain Gorr the God Butcher in "Thor: Love and Thunder" (making him the latest actor to have dipped his toes into both ends of the DC and Marvel swimming pool), Christian Bale is about to venture back into much more familiar territory. Bale has collaborated with director Scott Cooper on a few occasions in the past, stretching back to 2013's "Out of the Furnace" and the 2017 Western "Hostiles." The third time should be the charm for both artists, as they're once again reuniting for the upcoming "The Pale Blue Eye." Official information about this project has remained scarce up until recently, as Netflix begins to ramp up marketing for the film that's set to arrive roughly towards the end of this year and the beginning of the next.

Long a passion project for Cooper, "The Pale Blue Eye" now has a first look image and a release date to look forward to, along with various other notes and tidbits about what the film is about, who's involved, and everything else you need to know.

Christian Bale has seen one other film of his end up going straight to Netflix, although that wasn't quite the intention from the beginning. Director Andy Serkis' "Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle" was originally meant to debut theatrically via Warner Bros., but Netflix ended up swooping in and taking that picture off the studio's hands. This time around, however, "The Pale Blue Sky" will undergo a limited theatrical release before premiering on Netflix. Mark it down on your calendars to look for theatrical showtimes near you on December 23, 2022. After that brief run, the movie will be made available on streaming January 6, 2023.

Upon the production's initial announcement, director Scott Cooper stated that, "This is my attempt at a large-canvas whodunit, with a serial killer at its center. I want to make films that push me into a different, maybe uncomfortable space, but I am glad to have Christian go there with me. I've wanted to make this for over a decade and fortunately for me, Christian has perfectly aged into the lead character." Cooper's film is an adaptation, based on the 2006 novel of the same title by author Louis Bayard. The plot has been described as a "Gothic thriller that revolves around a series of fictional murders that took place in 1830 at the United States Military." The longer synopsis of the novel is as follows:

At West Point Academy in 1830, the calm of an October evening is shattered by the discovery of a young cadet's body swinging from a rope. The next morning, an even greater horror comes to light. Someone has removed the dead man's heart. Augustus Landor—who acquired some renown in his years as a New York City police detective—is called in to discreetly investigate. It's a baffling case Landor must pursue in secret, for the scandal could do irreparable damage to the fledgling institution. But he finds help from an unexpected ally—a moody, young cadet with a penchant for drink, two volumes of poetry to his name, and a murky past that changes from telling to telling. The strange and haunted Southern poet for whom Landor develops a fatherly affection, is named Edgar Allan Poe.

Given the lead actor involved and the well-known figure featured in the story, casting will prove to be even more important than usual with "The Pale Blue Eye." Christian Bale is attached as lead protagonist Augustus Landor, the detective in charge of unraveling this disturbing murder mystery. The aforementioned "young cadet" who's none other than Edgar Allan Poe himself will be portrayed by distinctive character actor Harry Melling, a veteran of the "Harry Potter" franchise, "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs," "The Tragedy of Macbeth," and the popular Netflix series "The Queen's Gambit." We previously reported that a bevy of other actors had also joined the cast. These names include Gillian Anderson, Robert Duvall, Timothy Spall, Lucy Boynton, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Toby Jones, and Harry Lawtey.

As mentioned, the film will be written and directed by Scott Cooper. The esteemed Howard Shore is reportedly on board to compose the score, with cinematography duties falling to Masanobu Takayanagi, who's known for his work on "Warrior," "The Grey," "Spotlight," and Cooper's previous film, "Hostiles." Stay tuned for more details as they come in.