Coppola describes the film as "...one part Gothic romance, one part personal film, and one part the kind of horror film that began my career..."
Coppola said the story for the film was inspired by the works of American authors Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne and came to him during a 'vivid dream' while visiting Istanbul.
The $7 million gothic thriller from American Zoetrope, stars Val Kilmer as writer 'Hall Baltimore', Bruce Dern as 'Sheriff Bobby LaGrange', Ben Chaplin as 'Edgar Allan Poe', Elle Fanning as 'V', Joanne Whalley as 'Denise', David Paymer as 'Sam Malkin', Ryan Simpkins as 'Carolyne' and Don Novello as 'Melvin' :
...a writer with a declining career arrives in a small town as part of his book tour and gets caught up in a murder mystery involving a young girl.
"That night in a dream, he is approached by a mysterious young ghost named 'V'.