For a while, James McTeigue was just one of the guys behind the scenes on great movies like The Matrix, which translated to a his first directing job on V for Vendetta — another wonderful film. Now that some positive feedback has come out of the Comic Con screening of his latest film, Ninja Assassin, this man is well on his way to becoming one of the top talents in the industry.

While Ninja Assassin is still a little ways off with a November release date, the director spoke to /Film recently about some of his upcoming projects, including the official confirmation of his next film: The Raven.

The movie will be loosely based on the final five days of the dark and legendary Edgar Allan Poe, adding a fictional tale about the author trying to track down a dangerous killer who is murdering people based on the writings of Poe himself.

Today marks the 200th birthday of writer Edgar Allan Poe, most famous for his tales of the horror and suspense such as The Raven, The Black Cat, and The Tell-Tale Heart. In celebration, the United States Postal Service released this week a 42-cent First-Class commemorative postage stamp of the 19th century master of macabre, which was dedicated at the Library of Virginia in Richmond.

The stamp is on sale right now at the Postal Store Web site at www.usps.com/shop or by calling 800-STAMP-24. (I know I’m definitely getting some of these stamps!)

The American writer and poet has gone on to influence countless writers and artists of all genres since his death in 1849 at the age of 40. Poe is said to have inspired the likes of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (creator of fiction’s great detective Sherlock Holmes), Dostoyevsky, Jules Vernes, and English Poet Laureate Alfred, Lord Tennyson, as well as composer Claude Debussy and Impressionists artists of the time, amongst many creators of today’s pop culture.