Concept art from a scrappedreboot of The Crowreveals how attached actors Tom Hiddleston and Luke Evans might have looked as the titular vigilante. This news comes to us fromBloody Disgusting.
In the original movie from 1994, directed by Alex Proyas and written by David J. Schow and John Shirley, the late Brandon Lee starred as Eric Draven, a rock musician who comes back from the dead to get revenge against the people who killed him and his fiancee. Lee infamously died on set while wrapping up principal photography on the movie.
There have been multiple attempts to reboot the movie in more recent years, but for better or for worse, the project just can’t seem to get off the ground. At one point, filmmaker F. Javier Gutierrez was attached to directThe Crowreboot, but as with the others, his concept never saw the light of day. While Gutierrez was attached,LokistarTom Hiddlestonwas also on board to play Eric Draven. At Bloody Disgusting, a look at the concept art of Hiddleston in the role has been revealed, as created by the project’s makeup artist Bill Corso.
After Hiddleston’s departure from the project, it was reported thatLuke Evanshad been cast as Eric Draven. Corso has also unveiled the concept art for theDracula Untoldstar as the Crow. What both have in common is a particular emphasis on making the character look more like he did in the original comic book, which includes Eric’s facial scarring.
“We tried to make it as faithful to the graphic novel as possible. Grounded, and with attention to detail (I wanted to show the scar). Bill is brilliant, and did an amazing job,” Gutierrez explained.
Some fans would argue that it’s all for the best these actors didn’t wind up playing Eric Draven for real. Because of his iconic performance and the shocking way he was killed on set, Lee has become forever synonymous withThe Crow. There is simply no replacing Brandon Lee for many diehard fans, and with the challenge of convincing them all to give a new guy a try, a reboot ofThe Crowis practically doomed from the very start.
Still, that hasn’t stopped the attempts from continuing. A later incarnation of the project would have been directed by Corin Hardy withAquamanstarJason Momoa starring as Eric Draven. After years of development, both Hardy and Momoa exited the project in 2018, puttingThe Crowreboot back into development hell. At the time, Momoa revealed a look at his unseen version of Eric Draven on Instagram.
“I’ve waited 8 years to play this dream role,” Momoa wrote in the caption. “I love you @corinhardy and @sonypictures unfortunately I may have to wait 8 more. Not our team. But I swear I will. James O’Barr sorry to let you down I won’t on the next. This film needs to be set free. And to the fans. Sorry. I can’t play anything but what this film deserves and it needs love. I’m ready when it’s right.” If you ask the fans, maybe this is one franchise that we should just leave be.
