Review The Crow (1994)

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10



* With thanks to Duzit for pointing out this impending reboot.

The original movie can be found here..............


https://www.imdforums.com/threads/the-crow-1994.2372/




The Long Development Hell of the "The Crow" Remake:

On December 14, 2008, Stephen Norrington announced in Variety that he planned to write and direct a "reinvention" of The Crow. Norrington distinguished between the original and his remake:

"Whereas Proyas' original was gloriously gothic and stylized, the new movie will be realistic, hard-edged and mysterious, almost documentary-style."[

Ryan Kavanaugh then announced on November 23, 2009, that his company, Relativity Media, was in negotiations with Edward R. Pressman for both the film's rights and financing.

Norrington later stepped out of the project and, on April 7, 2011, it was announced that 28 Weeks Later director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo had been chosen to direct the film, which has since been regarded as a remake.

Tucker Tooley of Relativity Media was chosen serve as executive producer, while Jose Ibanez, Jon Katz and Jesus de la Vega were to serve as co-producers.

Meanwhile, Bradley Cooper was in talks to play the lead.

It was reported on April 20, 2011, that the project was undergoing some legal battles.

In late June 2011, Relativity Media announced their plans to continue in mid-lawsuit and had tapped Alex Tse, who co-wrote Watchmen.

In mid-August 2011, it was announced that Cooper had dropped out due to scheduling difficulties and Mark Wahlberg, who was originally in talks for the lead in 2010, was again up for the part, with additional rumors of Channing Tatum or Ryan Gosling possibly taking the role, as well as James McAvoy.

In October 2011, it was reported that Fresnadillo had departed the project as well.

It was confirmed in January 2012 that Francisco Javier Gutiérrez had signed on to direct the remake, with Edward R. Pressman and Jeff Most on producing duties.

In June 2012, producer Edward R. Pressman assured fans that "the original 1994 Crow film holds a special place in my heart. The current film is a 'reinvention' of James O'Barr's graphic novel for the 21st century. We're thrilled to have teamed with director Javier Gutiérrez and screenwriter Jesse Wigutow on this story, which remains true to the core of Eric Draven's plight for revenge.

On the news of future remakes, however, O'Barr stated: "[...] I don't have great expectations. I think the reality is, no matter who you get to star in it, or if you get Ridley Scott to direct it and spend 200 million dollars, you're still not gonna top what Brandon Lee and Alex Proyas did in that first ten million dollar movie."

On April 19, 2013, it was announced that Tom Hiddleston was in talks to play Eric.

That same month, there were reports that Hiddleston would not be doing the film, but that Alexander Skarsgård was being eyed for the part. A week later, however, Skarsgård stated that he was not attached to the film.

On May 4, 2013, Deadline reported that Luke Evans had been cast as Eric Draven.

Evans reaffirmed to Superhero Hype that the film would be as faithful as possible to the original.

On July 3, 2013, The Crow's creator James O'Barr was named as the creative consultant of the film.

In an October 2015 interview, O'Barr would discuss what had changed his mind about the reboot, and efforts to make the reboot a more faithful adaptation of the comic book, while remaining respectful to the original film.

On November 21, 2013, Schmoes Know had reports that Norman Reedus was up for the role of a character named "James", and that Kristen Stewart had at one time been considered for the part of Shelly.

In December 2014, the studio hired Corin Hardy to direct the film.

Evans told Den of Geek in an interview that he might not do the film, and it was later revealed that Evans has dropped out of the film due to other projects.

On February 9, 2015, O'Barr told Blastr in an interview that he was interested in Sam Witwer for the role.

As of October 24, 2014, the film was set to start production in the spring of 2015.

On February 25, 2015, it was reported that Jack Huston would be starring in the film.

On March 14, 2015, O'Barr confirmed to Dread Central at the Lexington Comic and Toy Convention that Huston had been cast as Draven in the reboot, and at a Q&A during the convention he further confirmed that Jessica Brown Findlay had been cast as Shelly Webster.

On May 20, 2015, Deadline reports that Andrea Riseborough is in talks to co-star as the female version of Top Dollar.

On June 15, 2015, according to Variety reported two stories: Forest Whitaker is in negotiations for a role and Huston has dropped out due to scheduling conflicts, but Relativity Studios are looking at Nicholas Hoult and Jack O'Connell for the role of Draven.

On July 31, 2015, The Hollywood Reporter reported that production on the reboot stalled because of Relativity Media's bankruptcy.

O'Barr told comicbook.com in an interview that the film will still happen.

The Wrap reported that filming on the reboot was going to start in March 2016 with Hardy on board as director, but Hardy dropped out on the film.

On June 15, 2016, Deadline reports that Hardy may return to the reboot.

On August 10, 2016, Jason Momoa is reporting in talks to star in the film as he post a photo of him with Hardy who's still going to direct the reboot on his Instagram account.

On September 6, 2016, The Wrap reports that Momoa is cast and filming will begin in January 2017.

On November 17, 2016, The Hollywood Reporter has reported that Davis Films, Highland Film Group and Electric Shadow have acquired the rights to finance, produce and distribute the film now titled The Crow Reborn from Relativity but may lose both Momoa and Hardy.



 
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Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
The Crow Remake Is a $40 Million R-Rated Revenge Movie?



There are few movies that have been stuck in development in such a seemingly hopeless way as The Crow remake. For years, the project has been a revolving door of directors and actors trying to get this movie going. At one point, F. Javier Gutierrez (Rings) was attached to direct and, though he hasn't been involved in that capacity for a while, he is still set to be an Executive Producer on the movie. He has now revealed that, whenever the movie does actually get off the ground, it will be R-rated and it will have a budget of around $40 million. Which is pretty low for a superhero movie of this stature.


F. Javier Gutierrez recently spoke with Forbes and he was asked about The Crow remake and the reported $40 million production budget. He admitted that he hasn't heard much about it recently, but he didn't dispute that dollar figure and he did confirm that the movie will be R-rated. When he was attached to direct, that was something he was very adamant about. Here is what he had to say about it.



"With The Crow, I haven't talked to them in a while so I don't know what is going on with that, but we are going to do an R-rated movie. I come from Europe, I'm very dark so I'm going to go for it. If any movie has to be R-rated then it's The Crow. That's how I got James O'Barr, the creator of The Crow, involved in the project because he said that if R-rated is the way that I wanted to go, he's in. Even though I'm not directing it now, when I was going to be doing that I explained to the producers that they had to read and understand the comic book and not make the film a PG-13 version because it would make no sense. Some movies are for young people, I get it and maybe you can do it, but this movie is not necessarily for those young people and toning it down would give you a ghost of what The Crow should be."




As it stands, Corin Hardy (The Hallow) is attached to direct, with Jason Momoa (Justice League, Game of Thrones) set to star as Eric Draven. The role was originally brought to the big screen by Brandon Lee, who was tragically killed during the filming of the 1994 version of The Crow. Last we heard, The Crow remake was supposed to shoot this January, but that didn't wind up happening. At the moment, Corin Hardy is busy shooting The Conjuring spin-off The Nun, while Jason Momoa has just started shooting Aquaman, which is sure to be an extensive shoot. That said, both of their schedules seem clear enough to possibly make The Crow their next project. But if history has taught us anything when talking about this remake, don't get your hopes up.

The original movie version of The Crow remains a classic comic book movie, and a beloved one at that. With that said, it is the kind of movie that could truly benefit from a modern redo. Especially given the success of movies like Deadpool and Logan, which have made R-rated comic book movies something people really want to see. Last year, The Crow remake, currently titled The Crow Reborn, left its home at Relativity and went to Davis Films, Highland Film Group, and Electric Shadow, who will all co-finance and co-produce the movie. Maybe they will have better luck with it.

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Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10



The Crow is a 1994 American dark fantasy action film directed by Alex Proyas, written by David J. Schow and John Shirley.

The film stars Brandon Lee in his final film appearance.

The film is based on James O'Barr's 1989 comic book of the same name, it tells the story of Eric Draven (Lee), a rock musician who is revived from the dead to avenge his own death as well as the rape and murder of his fiancée.

The lead actor, Brandon Lee, was accidentally mortally wounded on the set during filming by a defective blank, only eight days before the film would have completed production.

Unfinished scenes that were to feature him were dealt with a re-written format in the script, a stunt double and digital special effects. The film is dedicated to Lee and his fiancée, Eliza.

Despite the several production setbacks due to Lee's death, The Crow was well-received critically for its unique visual style, premise, emotional depth and its tribute to the deceased actor.

The film opened at the top of the box office and attained a strong cult following.



Brandon Lee's death

Brandon Lee died of a gunshot wound on March 31, 1993, after an accidental shooting on set at EUE Screen Gems Studios in Wilmington, North Carolina.

In the scene in which Lee was accidentally shot, Lee’s character walks into his apartment and discovers his fiancée being beaten and raped by thugs.

Actor Michael Massee's character fires a .44 Magnum Smith & Wesson Model 629 revolver at Lee as he walks into the room.

A previous scene using the same gun had called for inert dummy cartridges fitted with bullets, but no powder or primer, to be loaded in the revolver.

For close-up scenes which utilize a revolver, where the bullets are clearly visible from the front, and do not require the gun to actually be fired, dummy cartridges provide a more realistic appearance than blank rounds, which have no bullet.

Instead of purchasing commercial dummy cartridges, the film's prop crew, hampered by time constraints, created their own by pulling the bullets from live rounds, dumping the powder charge then reinserting the bullets.

However, they unknowingly left the live percussion primer in place at the rear of the cartridge.

At some point during filming, the revolver was apparently discharged with one of these improperly-deactivated cartridges in the chamber, setting off the primer with enough force to drive the bullet partway into the barrel, where it became stuck (a condition known as a squib load).

The prop crew either failed to notice or failed to recognize the significance of this issue.

In the fatal scene, which called for the revolver to be actually fired at Lee from a distance of 12–15 feet, the dummy cartridges were exchanged for blank rounds, which feature a live powder charge and primer, but no bullet, thus allowing the gun to be fired without the risk of an actual projectile.

As the production company had sent the firearms specialist home early, responsibility for the guns was given to a prop assistant who was not aware of the rule for checking all firearms before and after any handling.

Therefore, the barrel was not checked for obstructions when it came time to load it with the blank rounds.

Since the bullet from the dummy round was already trapped in the barrel, this caused the .44 Magnum bullet to be fired out of the barrel with virtually the same force as if the gun had been loaded with a live round, and it struck Lee in the abdomen, mortally wounding him.

He was rushed to the New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington, NC, where he underwent six hours of surgery.

However, attempts to save him were unsuccessful, and Lee was pronounced dead at 1:03 pm on March 31, 1993, at the age of 28.

The shooting was ruled an accident.

After Lee's death, the producers were faced with the decision of whether or not to continue with the film. Lee had completed most of his scenes for the film and was scheduled to shoot for only three more days.

The rest of the cast and crew, except for Ernie Hudson, whose brother-in-law had just died, stayed in Wilmington. Paramount, which was initially interested in distributing

The Crow
theatrically (originally a direct-to-video feature), opted out of involvement due to delays in filming and some controversy over the violent content being inappropriate given Lee's death.

However, Miramax picked it up with the intention of releasing it in theatres and injected a further $8 million to complete the production, taking its budget to approximately $23 million.

The cast and crew then took a break for script rewrites of the flashback scenes that had yet to be completed.

The script was rewritten by Walon Green, Rene Balcer and Michael S. Chernuchin, adding narration and new scenes.

Lee's stunt double Chad Stahelski was used as a stand-in and CGI was used to digitally superimpose Lee's face onto the head of the double.

The beginning of the movie, which had not been finished, was rewritten, and the apartment scene remade using computer graphics from an earlier scene of Lee.


A remake is currently in development.....


https://www.imdforums.com/threads/the-crow-remake-in-development.2371/



 

duzit

Member: Rank 6
As a fan of the original film, I have hopes that the remake (whenever it gets made) will do the old film justice. I would like to have seen Tom Hiddleston in the lead roll. He could make the roll his with his acting credits. I think he has the correct body physique, Jason Momoa is to bulky. I really don't care who plays Shelly as long as it's not Kristen Stewart, she can't act her way out of a paper bag.
I'm going to watch for future updates for this one...:emoji_musical_score::emoji_purple_heart::emoji_musical_keyboard:
 

chainsaw_metal1

Member: Rank 8
I had read some of the comics and loved them, so when the movie was released I went and bought the graphic novel and loved it. I passed it along to all of my friends, and we eagerly awaited this film. Needless to say, the movie did not disappoint. It perfectly captured not only the gothic sense of the character, but the gritty setting in which he carries out his vengeance. And Brandon Lee was so perfectly cast in this movie. His loss was felt so hard, because he was a truly gifted actor who was finally coming into his own.
 

chainsaw_metal1

Member: Rank 8
"Whereas Proyas' original was gloriously gothic and stylized, the new movie will be realistic, hard-edged and mysterious, almost documentary-style."
Gee, not to sound like that grumpy old nerd, but comic book movies shouldn't be made by people who haven't read the comic books and don't get them!!!!

I dunno. If done right, this could be a great film. But every time I hear news about it, it feels like no one involved gets why the comic was great to begin with. Also, in the comic, Eric looked like an average guy, which was why Brandon was perfect casting. Yeah, he was buff, but he wasn't super hero buff, he looked like someone you might meet in real life.
 

Elliot Thomas

Member: Rank 3
It's a violent, dark, visually arresting film, given added impact and allure due to the on-set tragedy.
The revenge storyline is familiar and often hokey but there’s atmosphere and style to spare with a brooding, somber tone offset by striking production design and a suitable heavy metal soundtrack.
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Sony Scores Rights To “The Crow” Reboot


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Sony Pictures has picked up distribution rights to “The Crow” reboot which was previously in the works at Relativity for almost a decade.

Various directors and actors have been attached over the years, most notably Jason Momoa, Luke Evans and Jack Huston were linked to the title role.

The project’s fate was in limbo following the company filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company emerged from Chapter 11 in April, but previously attached helmer Corin Hardy is no longer involved.

The reboot is said to be a more faithful adaptation of the comic and follows a murder victim who returns from the dead, seeking vengeance on those who murdered him and his fiancee with the help of a mystical bird.
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
Sony Sets New “Crow” Date


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Sony Pictures has set an October 11th 2019 release date for the Jason Momoa-led “The Crow” remake which Corin Hardy directs from a script by Nick Cave.

The long in the works new take on the comic has Momoa playing Eric Draven who returns from the grave as The Crow on a mission to avenge his wife’s murder so that his soul can finally rest.
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
“The Crow” Remake Character Details


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After years in development hell and working its way through multiple versions, the reboot of “The Crow” franchise is now finally on the way with Jason Momoa in the lead and filming to finally begin this summer in Budapest.

New casting details for the film have gone up today at Dread Central and suggest the new film will stick close to the original 1994 film’s story, even as it changes up some key characters.

First up, the character of T-Bird is to be the main villain this time around. He’s described as 30, strong and wiry with: “an endless hunger where his heart should be” and is covered in prison ink. He also takes over the old Hotel Reno on the outskirts of town where he rolls with Top Dollar and his notorious gang.”

The original film’s villain Top Dollar along with the character of Detective Albrecht are both being gender-swapped and will be women in this version. Top Dollar is now T-Bird’s love interest and she is: “a lean, reptilian woman who came of age amidst lust and cruelty and has survived by embracing both. She possesses an almost psychic instinct for seeking out a lie.”

Albrecht, on the other hand, will be akin to Ernie Hudson’s version in the original, just a woman this time. There’s also a new and nasty character named Ratso, and the return of characters Shelly, Tin Tin and Fun Boy. The Corin Hardy-directed film has yet to set a release date.
 

chainsaw_metal1

Member: Rank 8
New casting details for the film have gone up today at Dread Central and suggest the new film will stick close to the original 1994 film’s story, even as it changes up some key characters.
Oh, well, if they're going to stay somewhat close to...
First up, the character of T-Bird is to be the main villain this time around. He’s described as 30, strong and wiry with: “an endless hunger where his heart should be” and is covered in prison ink. He also takes over the old Hotel Reno on the outskirts of town where he rolls with Top Dollar and his notorious gang.”
Actually, T-Bird was the leader in the comic. So that's okay, I mean, it's still...
The original film’s villain Top Dollar along with the character of Detective Albrecht are both being gender-swapped and will be women in this version. Top Dollar is now T-Bird’s love interest and she is: “a lean, reptilian woman who came of age amidst lust and cruelty and has survived by embracing both. She possesses an almost psychic instinct for seeking out a lie.”
Fuck me with a red hot poker.
Albrecht, on the other hand, will be akin to Ernie Hudson’s version in the original, just a woman this time. There’s also a new and nasty character named Ratso, and the return of characters Shelly, Tin Tin and Fun Boy. The Corin Hardy-directed film has yet to set a release date.
You do know that there was a comic series that you could have gone to and followed? You do know that Marvel sticks fairly close to their source material which makes fans happy? You do see what has happened with DC not sticking close to the source material? Why am I even bothering, when these decisions aren't made by fans but people who have never bothered to ever pick up a comic book in their lives and have no idea what to do with said material? No, they'd probably try to eat the comic book, because they're so stupid!!!
 

Doctor Omega

Member: Rank 10
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“The Crow” Reboot Collapses Again


Actor Jason Momoa has revealed in an Instagram post that the long-gestating “The Crow” remake has, once again, fallen apart.

Momoa shared a photo of himself with filmmaker Corin Hardy, who was to direct, with both now departing the project. Reasons for the collapse are said to be due to financial issues between producer Samuel Hadida and Sony Pictures, which was to have distributed the movie.

Earlier this year, Sony set a release date of October 11th 2019, needless to say that’s no longer happening. Momoa says in his post:

“I’ve waited eight years to play this dream role. I love you @corinhardy and @sonypictures unfortunately I may have to wait 8 more. Not our team,” he wrote. “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.”


https://www.instagram.com/p/Bjcrux8nH6o/?utm_source=ig_embed

The story, based on James O’Barr’s indie comic, follows a man brought back from the dead in order to avenge the death of his girlfriend, as well as his own. The previous 1994 Alex Proyas-directed film became a cult hit, infamous for its star Brandon Lee being killed in a tragic on-set accident.
 
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