After years of delays, the long-awaited reboot ofThe Crowis finally moving forward, withproduction starting in early 2018. Jason Momoa is set to star as Eric Draven, under the direction of Corin Hardy, but filmmaker Alex Proyas, who directed the original 1994 adaptation ofThe Crow, doesn’t think this should happen. The filmmaker recently took to social media to deliver an impassioned plea about why he thinks thisCrowreboot should be shut down, since he thinksThe Crowis still Brandon Lee’s movie.
“I was privileged to know Brandon Lee, he was a young, immensely gifted actor with a great sense of humour and a bright future ahead of him. I was also privileged to have been able to call him a friend. Our working relationship as actor/director went beyond mere collaboration. We crafted a movie together which has touched many people. I did not take a “film by” credit on THE CROW. I wanted it to be Brandon’s movie, because it was, and because he would not be able to make any more movies. He brought all his passion to the movie and it has lasted as his legacy. It is a film I know he would have been proud of. I finished the film for Brandon, struggling through grief, along with the hugely supportive cast & crew who all loved Brandon, to complete it in his absence. We were imbued with the strength of Brandon’s spirit and his inspiration. Not only Brandon’s wonderful work as an actor and a film-maker, but as a man, who’s humanity had touched us.The Crowwould not be a movie worth “remaking” if it wasn’t for Brandon Lee. If it wasn’t for Brandon you may never have even heard of this poignant little underground comic. It isBrandon’s movie. I believe it is a special case where Hollywood should just let it remain a testament to a man’s immense talent and ultimate sacrifice, and not have others re-write that story or add to it. I know sequels were made, and TV shows, and what have you, but the notion of “rebooting” this story, and the original character, a character Brandon gave life to at too high a cost, seems wrong to me. Please let this remain Brandon’s film.”
Brandon Lee was killed in a freak accident on the set ofThe Crow, with director Alex Proyas finishing the film by using digital composites of the late actor. While the finished movie wasn’t a massive hit at the box office ($50.6 million), it ultimately became a cult classic. As mentioned by Alex Proyas in his statement, the movie did spawn sequels featuring different incarnations ofThe Crow, such as 1996’sThe Crow: City of Angels, starring Vincent Perez as Ashe Corven/The Crow, 2000’sThe Crow: Salvationstarring Eric Mobius as Alex Corvis/The Crow and 2005’sThe Crow: Wicked Prayerstarring Edward Furlong as Jimmy Cuervo/The Crow. None of those sequels went on to match the popularity of the original.
Sony Pictures revived The Crowreboot back in September, after the project had been languishing in development at Relativity Media while that company dealt with its bankruptcy proceedings. With director Corin Hardy still on board, and Jason Momoa set as the new Eric Draven, it seems this project is finally ready to get started, but there are still a few more questions that remain. Jessica Brown Findlay (Downton Abbey) had been attached since 2015 to playEric Draven’s fiancee Shelly, but there hasn’t been any indication that she is still on board, and no further cast members have been revealed at this time. With production reportedly starting early next year, we’ll likely start hearing some new casting updates soon.
This isn’t the first timeAlex Proyas has spoken out over The Crow remake, stating that it’s “unnecessary” and that he wanted the studio to let the original movie be, “Brandon’s legacy.” project has been through its fair share of “development hell” throughout the years, with a revolving rotation of actors and writers that would come aboard and depart the project, including Bradley Cooper, Luke Evans, Jack Huston, but now it seems this will happen with Jason Momoa and director Corin Hardy. Despite the pleas fromAlex Proyas' Facebook, it seems this reboot is happening, one way or another.
