Joaquin Phoenix Playing Edgar Allan Poe?

UPDATE: Phoenix's rep has denied the story, according to Gossip Cop.Oh well-- fun while it lasted.

Well here's some strange news for your Friday. While no one was ever truly convinced that Joaquin Phoenix was abandoning acting in favor of some kind of rap career during that weird publicity stunt phase last year, we haven't seen his name attached to any movies since. But now, if The Playlist is properly reading a report out of India, the dry spell may be ending in order for Phoenix to play Edgar Allan Poe.

Yeah, I'm as surprised as you are. The news comes from Mumbai-based sound recordist Resul Pookutty, who talked to the Mumbai Mirror about his next project, an adaptations of Daniel Stashower's novel The Beautiful Cigar Girl, based on a true story from Poe's life. Pookutty told the paper that Phoenix would be playing Poe, but didn't give any details about the film's director or other cast members, or how this entire project came together completely under the radar. If it's filming in New York as Pookutty says, though, I'd expect more details to be leaking out before too long.