confronted by Fields. He lunges for the detective, and Fields shoots him at point-blank range. Cast John Cusack as Edgar Allan Poe Luke Evans as Inspector Emmett Fields Alice Eve as Emily Hamilton Brendan Gleeson as Captain Charles Hamilton Oliver Jackson-Cohen as PC John Cantrell Jimmy Yuill as Captain Eldridge Kevin McNally as Henry Maddux Sam Hazeldine as Ivan Reynolds Pam Ferris as Mrs. Bradley John Warnaby as Ludwig Griswold (a reference to Rufus Wilmot Griswold who used the pen name Ludwig) Brendan Coyle as Reagan Production Jeremy Renner was originally going to star in the film (playing the role later taken by Luke Evans), but he dropped out so that he could star in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol. Ewan McGregor was also in talks for a role, but he also dropped out. Joaquin Phoenix was also approached to star at one point. On August 28, 2010, it was confirmed that John Cusack would play Edgar Allan Poe in the film. The filming began on November 9, 2010 in Belgrade and Budapest. The first images from the set were revealed on November 15, 2010. A trailer for the film was released online October 7, 2011. This date is significant because it also marks the anniversary of Poe's death at age 40 in 1849. In 2011 Relativity acquired U.S. rights for only $4 million. Reception Critical response On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a rating of 22% based on 141 reviews, with an average rating of 4.6/10. The site's critics consensus states: "Thinly scripted, unevenly acted, and overall preposterous, The Raven disgraces the legacy of Edgar Allen Poe with a rote murder mystery that's more silly than scary." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 44 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale. James Berardinelli gave the film two and a half stars out of four, writing: "The Raven looks great and is well-paced, but a lack of a compelling resolution makes it an anemic effort." Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote, "The story has its moments, and yet there is something about this tale ... that doesn't completely satisfy." Richard Roeper, however, was more positive towards the film, awarding it a B+. Box office The Raven grossed $16 million in the