Universal Pictures to expand fan-favorite youtube sci-fi short The Raven with Mark Wahlberg producing

According to THR, Universal has nabbed rights to Ricardo De Montreuil’s short film The Raven, and Mark Wahlberg is attached to produce the feature-length project alongside partner Steve Levinson. The Raven is being developed as a starring vehicle for the actor, with Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li writer Justin Marks penning the script. Nick Osborne, Trevor Engelson and Oly Obst of Underground Films will executive produce.

The Raven was part of the short film wave that hit Hollywood in the late winter and early spring of this year, when up-and-coming filmmakers with studio aspirations, released self-produced short films with the hope of getting noticed by major Hollywood film studios.

The original short focused on a young man with powers that’s chased around downtown Los Angeles by robotic police drones, while a giant police ship coordinates the effort from the skies above.

Universal’s The Raven is not to be confused with FilmNation and Intrepid Pictures’ project with the same title, which is an adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s poem and stars John Cusack, Luke Evans and Alice Eve.

Peruvian-born De Montreuil also recently closed a deal to direct the coming-of-age drama Lowriders for the studio, stemming from this short film he released on youtube.

Check out the original short film The Raven below. It was released in April of 2010.