This June, a long-gestating remake of the 1994 Brandon Lee comic book film “The Crow” will finally be released following various false starts over the years with versions meant to star actors like Jack Huston and Jason Momoa. The Rupert Sanders-directed (“Ghost In The Shell”) version stars rising actor Bill Skarsgård (the spitting image of the original artwork from James O’Barr’s comic book) as a new take on the undead vigilante Eric Draven. However, Alex Proyas (“Dark City”), the director of the original film, isn’t loving the idea of a remake. Posting on Facebook, Proyas shared his belief that this new movie would tarnish the legacy of Lee, who died tragically after a gun-centered stunt went wrong in April 1993 (accidents and safety concerns plagued the production leading up to Lee’s death).
“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,” Proyas wrote in a Facebook post in the wake of the film’s trailer release. “So it pains me to say any more on this topic, but I think the fan’s response speaks volumes. ‘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.”
A key issue with Proyas’ understandable sentiment is that Lionsgate’s “The Crow” is actually the fifth feature film incarnation— following “The Crow: City of Angels” (1996), “The Crow: Salvation” (2000), “The Crow: Wicked Prayer” (2005) — and this will be the second Eric Draven recasting (Mark Dacascos played Draven in the short-lived television series “The Crow: Stairway To Heaven”). While those three are rather forgettable B-movies, Proyas never seemed to have issues with any of them for some reason.
Here’s how Lionsgate officially describes their new remake:
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.
What’s interesting is the mature tone and visual style of “The Crow” influenced many subsequent genre action pics as screenwriter David S. Goyer worked on “The Crow: City of Angels” (Before tackling the “Blade” and “The Dark Knight” trilogies) and would link up with Proyas on his mind-bending “Dark City” (which shares some elements and even sets with “The Matrix”).
“The Crow” will fly into theaters on June 7, and you can view that latest trailer below.