Christopher Lee’s regal tones will again be heard in a new movie at multiplexes after an animated film based on the stories of Edgar Allan Poe that features his voice was picked up for US distribution.
Lee is a narrator for the Extraordinary Tales project, with horror directors Guillermo del Toro, Roger Corman and actor Julian Sands also taking part. The film will cover Poe’s stories The Tell-Tale Heart, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Fall of the House of Usher, The Facts in the Case of M Valdemar and The Masque of the Red Death, though which storyteller will work on which tale is not known.
The Hollywood Reporter also names Bela Lugosi as a participant. The Hungarian-American star of the 1931 film Dracula recorded a narration of The Tell Tale Heart, so producers will presumably use that audio.
“Extraordinary Tales takes on the classic late-night horror anthology format with the full visual inventiveness that only animation allows, and we can’t wait to share it with audiences in the fall,” said David Jesteadt of distributor GKIDS. The film, directed by Lion King and Aladdin animator Raúl García, will hit cinemas and video on demand on 30 October. There is no word yet on a UK release date.
Lee died aged 93 on 7 June in London. He had been preparing for his role in a drama titled The 11th, with Uma Thurman.
As well as Extraordinary Tales, there is one more live-action Lee drama due for release, the fantasy Angels in Notting Hill, where he plays a godly figure who looks after the universe. This week, his five times co-star Johnny Depp became the latest actor to pay tribute to Lee, calling his friend a “profoundly kind, generous, warm and fascinating man”.
