The Crow Remake

[GeneChing]

Bill Skarsgard to Star in ‘The Crow’ Reboot, Rupert Sanders Directing (Exclusive)
After years of stop and go, the new iteration of the 1994 supernatural actioner is on the runway, and production is slated to begin in June.
BY BORYS KIT

APRIL 1, 2022 3:12PM

Bill Skarsgard, 'The Crow,' Rupert Sanders GEORGE PIMENTEL/GETTY; ROBERT ZUCKERMAN / DIMENSION FILMS / COURTESY EVERETT COLLECTION; AMIE MCCARTHY/GETTY

After years of false starts and many rings of development hell, The Crow appears ready to fly again.

Bill Skarsgard, who played Pennywise the Clown in the It horror movies, will star in the reboot of the supernatural revenge thriller that will be directed by Rupert Sanders, best known for helming Snow White and the Huntsman and Ghost in the Shell.

Longtime Crow steward Edward R. Pressman and Malcolm Gray, a co-producer on the 2019 Chadwick Boseman thriller 21 Bridges, are producing.

Crow was an indie comic written and drawn by James O’Barr in the late 1980s that told the dark tale of a man and his fiancee who are assaulted and killed by a gang after the couple’s car breaks down. The man is resurrected by a crow and exacts vengeance on those who took his life and the life of his love.

Skarsgard will play Eric Draven, the man on the revenge mission. Zach Baylin, who is coming off an Oscar nomination for penning King Richard, wrote the script.

The project is well into preproduction ahead of a June start date, with shooting to take place in Prague and Munich. The budget is in the $50 million range, and it does appear like the film will actually take flight.

Fans of The Crow, however, have plenty of reasons to be skeptical that this iteration won’t get derailed at the last minute, given the franchise’s infamous history. The first movie, released in 1994, was a critical and box office hit and gained a fervent cult following after the on-set death of star Brandon Lee.

A sequel, titled The Crow: City of Angels, starred Vincent Perez. It was released in 1996 and was followed by two more films, The Crow: Salvation (2000) and The Crow: Wicked Prayer (2005), with Eric Mabius and Edward Furlong as the respective leads. There was even a late-1990s TV series that starred Mark Dacascos. But since Wicked Prayer’s 2005 opening, the franchise has seen plenty of lift and drag.

Director Stephen Norrington (Blade) was involved with one reboot, while F. Javier Gutiérrez (Before the Fall) and actor Luke Evans worked on another. Corin Hardy (The Nun) took on the task of a reboot in 2017 and attached Jason Momoa to star, but both men left in 2018 after a clash over financial issues between producers and the distributor, clipping the project’s wings once again.

Skarsgard, who helped the It movies scare up over $1.1 billion at the worldwide box office, will be seen in the upcoming John Wick: Chapter 4 and is currently filming the action-fantasy Boy Kills World. Ironically, he voiced a character named Kro in Marvel’s 2021 movie Eternals.

Sanders developed a name as a commercial director adept at visual wizardry before making his feature debut with 2012’s Snow White and the Huntsman, a big-budget fantasy starring Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron and Chris Hemsworth. His 2017 outing, the adaptation of manga Ghost in the Shell, starred Scarlett Johansson.

Skarsgard is repped by WME, Magnolia Entertainment and Hirsch Wallerstein. Sanders is repped by CAA, Grandview and Independent Talent Group.

I don't think this is an April Fool's prank.

[GeneChing]

Not an April Fool's prank.

FKA Twigs Joins Bill Skarsgard in ‘The Crow’ Reboot
The supernatural revenge thriller is being directed by Rupert Sanders.
BY BORYS KIT

APRIL 4, 2022 8:55AM

FKA Twigs SAMIR HUSSEIN/WIREIMAGE


FKA Twigs, the British singer and dancer who is making inroads into acting, is co-starring in the reboot and re-imagining of The Crow, the supernatural revenge thriller being directed by Rupert Sanders.

Bill Skarsgård, who played Pennywise the Clown in the It horror movies, is toplining the project, which has seen numerous iterations and close calls come and go amid years of development.

Crow was an indie comic written and drawn by James O’Barr in the late 1980s that told the dark tale of a man and his fiancee who are assaulted and killed by a gang after the couple’s car breaks down. The man is resurrected by a crow and exacts vengeance on those who took his life and the life of his love.

Twigs is playing the girlfriend/fiancée. The role was not significant in the original movie but sources say that in this re-imagining, the part has been re-conceived into a co-lead. It is unclear if the character never quite dies, perhaps returns in some supernatural form, or may even be a representation of the crow itself.

Crow is due to begin shooting in June with production to take place in Prague and Munich.

Producing are Victor Hadida, Molly Hassell, John Jencks and Edward R. Pressman. Dan Farah is an exec producer on the project.

Twigs earlier this year released a mixtape album titled Caprisongs and had a song on The King’s Man soundtrack.

I'm thinking FKA Twigs will need her own indie thread here soon. She's popped up several times here. I think this was the first.

[GeneChing]

‘Ballerina’ Dances Into Summer 2025 As ‘The Crow’ Swoops Into John Wick Spinoff’s June 2024 Date

By Anthony D'Alessandro
Editorial Director/Box Office Editor
@AwardsTony

February 21, 2024 4:00pm


Ana De Armas, "The Crow"
Michael Buckner for Deadline/Dimension Films/Everett Collection

EXCLUSIVE: Lionsgate‘s John Wick spinoff Ballerina starring Ana de Armas will be delayed a year from June 7, 2024 to June 6, 2025. The move comes as John Wick architect Chad Stahelski has inked a new deal with Lionsgate to oversee the franchise. He’s working with Ballerina director Len Wiseman on additional action sequences for the movie, to amp it up even more than it is.

Advance tracking is already hot on Ballerina, Lionsgate just wants to make the feature, produced by Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee’s Thunder Road even better. Currently, the Ballerina stands alone on her new summer 2025 date.
Now, there’s nothing for exhibition to fret, for the Rupert Sanders’ redux of The Crow will be taking over Ballerina‘s summer date of June 7 this year. Bill Skarsgård takes on the iconic role of The Crow in this modern reimagining of the original graphic novel by James O’Barr. Soulmates Eric Draven (Skarsgård) and Shelly Webster (FKA twigs) are brutally murdered when the demons of her dark past catch up with them. Given the chance to save his true love by sacrificing himself, Eric sets out to seek merciless revenge on their killers, traversing the worlds of the living and the dead to put the wrong things right. Danny Huston, Laura Birn, Sami Bouajila, and Jordan Bolger also star. Pic was penned by Zach Baylin and Will Schneider, based on the graphic novel. The Crow is produced by Victor Hadida, Molly Hassell, John Jencks, Samuel Hadida, and Edward R. Pressman.
Also bowing on June 7 is New Line’s horror movie, The Watchers, from Ishana Night Shyamalan.
In more good news for January 2025, Lionsgate is adding an untitled Guy Ritchie directed movie to Jan. 17 — MLK weekend. However, Amazon MGM Studios already has an untitled Jason Statham film there. Who will blink? The latest Ritchie movie reteams him with stars Henry Cavill and Eiza González following their upcoming Lionsgate film The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, (which is coming out on April 19 this year). Also dated for MLK weekend 2025 is Sony’s Paddington in Peru. If all movies stay in January, that brings the current count for wide entries up to six titles, which is one more than January 2024’s five wide releases.

Ballerina
The-Crow-Remake

[GeneChing]

The Darkest Superhero Movie of the ‘90s is Finally Coming to 4K
Buildings burn, people die, but good movies are forever.
BY DAIS JOHNSTON
FEB. 21, 2024


Miramax Films
A good cult classic can capture a particular feeling of simultaneous ridiculousness and joy. But with superhero movies dominating the zeitgeist, it’s increasingly rare that one manages to attain cult status, the internet’s ironic love for Morbius notwithstanding. In 1994, however, one innovative cult hit managed to define a superhero subgenre — and the tragically shortened career of its star.

Now, after 30 years, that movie is getting a huge upgrade that will bring it to a whole new audience, all just in time for a new version to hit theaters. According to Blu-Ray.com, Paramount Pictures will release a 4K UHD version of The Crow on May 7th. The release will also include the option of a limited-edition steelbook.

The Crow is the story of Eric Draven (Brandon Lee), a rock musician who’s murdered alongside his fiancée, but rises from the dead with a clear mission: get revenge. Based on James O’Barr’s comic book series, it became a sleeper hit among the Hot Topic crowd that deserves its place among other ‘90s comic book movies like Blade and Batman and Robin.


The Crow brought a dark edge to the superhero genre years before The Dark Knight.MIRAMAX
One of the first “gritty” superhero movies that set the stage for projects like Nolan’s Batman trilogy, The Crow balances a pitch-black tone with plenty of jokes to diffuse the tension. Unfortunately, the movie is perhaps best known for the prop gun accident that mortally wounded star Brandon Lee, son of martial arts legend Bruce Lee.

The film was completed through careful reshoots and the use of body doubles, but the loss of Lee looms large over it. The representation of what Lee’s career could have been is part of why The Crow has such a lasting legacy, and a new 4K edition could do Lee’s legacy justice while also letting the movie stand on its own reputation. Dariusz Wolski, the movie’s cinematographer, said on Instagram that he’d overseen the new edition and that it was a “truly emotional” experience.

With a remake of The Crow starring Bill Skarsgård and musician FKA Twigs coming later this year, now’s the perfect time to either revisit this Goth classic, or experience an overlooked moment in superhero history for the first time. Then, if you’re really hardcore, you can watch the new movie in full cosplay.

The Crow 4K UHD edition will be available on May 7, 2024.

So dark. I love the film but the death of Brandon makes it super dark.

[Kevin73]

So dark. I love the film but the death of Brandon makes it super dark.

When The Crow came out on VHS, it also included Brandon Lee's last interview. Watch it and it will really give you some chills.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzKDxQUVE5U

[GeneChing]

[GeneChing]

Original ‘The Crow’ Director Disavows Reboot Over Concern for Brandon Lee’s Legacy
Alex Proyas wrote of his late leading man and the 1994 film, "It is his legacy. That's how it should remain."
BY AARON COUCH
MARCH 18, 2024 3:48PM

THE CROW, Brandon Lee, 1994 MIRAMAX/COURTESY EVERETT COLLECTION

Over the years, filmmaker Alex Proyas has maintained that his 1994 feature The Crow should not get a reboot out of respect for Brandon Lee, his star who died in an on-set accident. Now, after years of development, a The Crow reboot is indeed ready for release, and Proyas is once again expressing his concerns.

“I really don’t get any joy from seeing negativity about any fellow filmmakers work. And I’m certain the cast and crew really had all good intentions, as we all do on any film. So it pains me to say any more on this topic, but I think the fan’s response speaks volumes,” Proyas wrote on Facebook Monday, along with a link to an article noting that The Crow reboot’s trailer received numerous dislikes on YouTube. “THE CROW is not just a movie. Brandon Lee died making it, and it was finished as a testament to his lost brilliance and tragic loss. It is his legacy. That’s how it should remain.”

Proyas previously expounded at greater length on the topic in 2017, back when star Jason Momoa was poised to star in the reboot. “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,” Proyas wrote. “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, whose humanity had touched us.”

Lee, the son of Bruce Lee, was killed by a prop gun on set in 1993 at the age of 28. Rupert Sanders, the director of the new The Crow, previously noted he hoped his film could serve as a tribute to Lee.

“Brandon was an original voice and I think he will always be synonymous with The Crow and I hope he’s proud of what we’ve done and how we’ve brought the story back again. His soul is very much alive in this film. There’s a real fragility and beauty to his version of the Crow, and I think Bill feels like he is a successor to that,” Sanders told Vanity Fair in an article published last month.

Lionsgate is behind The Crow, which is due out June 7. The Crow is based on James O’Barr’s comics, which debuted in 1989 and tells the story of a man who is murdered, alongside his fiancee, only to be resurrected to seek vengence. Multiple sequels followed the 1994 film, including The Crow: City of Angels (1996), The Crow: Salvation (2000) and The Crow: Wicked Prayer (2005).

I feel what Proyas is saying but it was a comic before Brandon. Plus there were all the sequels.