After multiple failed attempts to resurrect “The Crow” franchise, including one effort starring Jason Momoa that came close in the last two years, a consortium of independent producers, Hassell Free Productions, The Electric Shadow Company, Davis Films, and Pressman Films, are bringing the film back to life. What’s more, is that it is completely set up and ready to go with all the principals in place.
READ MORE: ‘The Crow’ Director Alex Proyas Speaks Out Against Reboot
Rupert Sanders (“Snow White and the Huntsman,” “Ghost in the Shell,” “Foundation”) will direct what’s being described as a “modern reimagining of “The Crow,” and Bill Skarsgård (the “It” franchise) and Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter FKA Twigs (“Honeyboy”) starring in leading roles. The revenge thriller is written by Academy Award-nominated Zach Baylin (“King Richard”) and is based on the original graphic novel of the beloved character created, written, and illustrated by James O’Barr.
“The Crow is beautiful, dark, poetic, and sometimes disturbing,” director Rupert Sanders said in a statement. “It is a story of love, loss, grief, and revenge. It is a great honor to revisit James O’Barr’s iconic comic and reimagine The Crow as a foreboding voice of today.”
The Crow will be produced by Victor Hadida (Resident Evil and Silent Hill franchises), Molly Hassell (Braven starring Jason Momoa, Terminal starring Margot Robbie), John Jencks (Honest Thief, Guns Akimbo), and Edward R. Pressman (The Crow starring Brandon Lee, Academy Award-winner Wall Street, American Psycho). Production companies are Hassell Free Productions, Electric Shadow Company, Davis Films, and Edward R. Pressman Film Corporation, in association with 30WEST. CAA Media Finance is handling the film’s domestic distribution rights.
“’The Crow’ has long held an important space in my life,” said veteran producer Ed Pressman in a statement, known for films like Terrence Malick’s “Badlands,” “Conan The Destroyer,” ‘Bad Lieutenant,” and, of course, the original ‘Crow’ film.
First published by Caliber Comics in 1989, director Alex Proyas brought the story to the screen in 1994’s “The Crow,” which starred the late Brandon Lee and became a cult classic. The original film and its sequels continue to be distributed around the world. While there were three unremarkable sequels to the movie in the 1990s and beyond, audiences craved a start-over reboot. Attempts for that started circa 2008 with names and talent like filmmakers Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, Francisco Javier Gutiérrez, and actors such as Bradley Cooper, Mark Wahlberg, James McAvoy, Andrea Riseborough, Jack Huston, Luke Evans, and Tom Hiddleston in the mix over the years. Ironically, Bill Skarsgård’s older brother, Alexander Skarsgård, was once considered for the part too.
No release date yet, but this version of “The Crow” looks like it’s finally going to be the one that makes it to the screen.