‘The Crow’: Director Rupert Sanders Calls His Remake “A Very Scrappy Indie Movie”

We, at The Playlist, love indie films. We cover quite a few of them, in fact. There’s nothing better than discovering a small, indie movie and being optimistic about the future of the medium. But, to be honest, it’s difficult to think of the upcoming remake of “The Crow” as a real indie film, no matter what Rupert Sanders says. 

Speaking to Empire, while discussing his new film, “The Crow,” filmmaker Rupert Sanders talked about what makes his film so special. And in his own words, Sanders is excited about “The Crow” not being a major studio film. He goes a step further to describe it as an “indie movie.”

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“There’s nothing to do with Hollywood in this movie at all,” explained Sanders, “It’s a very scrappy indie movie.” 

And in thinking about “The Crow” as less of a blockbuster franchise remake and more of an indie film made it so Sanders would be “able to remain close to the center and the darkness and the violence that’s in the graphic novel. The only reason we could do that is because it’s not a studio movie.”

Okay, sure, Rupert Sanders’ “The Crow” doesn’t have the backing of one of the massive studios like Warner Bros. or Disney. That said, it is being distributed by Lionsgate, which is putting the film on thousands of screens. It’s difficult to think of that as “indie” when we cover other films that only get dozens or a couple of hundred screens. Hell, a lot of indie films never get theatrical distribution. So, perhaps Sanders is pushing the limits of the “indie movie” definition.

READ MORE: Original ‘Crow’ Director Alex Proyas Says New Remake Tarnishes Brandon Lee’s Legacy

Going a step further, the filmmaker also wanted to talk about how the success of “The Crow,” being an indie movie and all, would be able to perhaps lead to more “down-and-dirty” films like “Easy Rider” or “Raging Bull.” He doesn’t outright compare “The Crow” to those films, but he definitely includes them in the same company. 

“I really hope we’re in for another kind of ‘Easy Riders,’ ‘Raging Bulls’ period of having to make these more down-and-dirty films that still feel like big epic movies [but] are weirder and stranger,” he said.

To be fair, none of what he said has any bearing on whether or not “The Crow” is any good. It could be a perfectly fine movie that makes good money during its theatrical run. And we always hope for the success of films. But it’s fairly obvious that “The Crow” is not a true “indie movie.”