James O'Barr's handpainted teaser poster for 'The Crow'.
The Crow is an upcoming film, will be an adaptation of James O'Barr's popular underground comic book The Crow , which was released in 1989.
It will be directed by Irish director Corin Hardy, with a screenplay from Cliff Dorfman, Nick Cave and James O'Barr. The film will be produced by Edward. R. Pressman and Jeff Most.
Premise[]
The story revolves around an unfortunate young man named Eric. He and his fiance, Shelly, are assaulted by a gang of street thugs after their car breaks down. Eric is shot in the spine and is paralyzed, and can only watch as Shelly is savagely beaten and raped.
He is resurrected by a crow and seeks vengeance on the murderers, methodically stalking and killing them.
Cast[]
- Jason Momoa
Development[]
Concept art of Bradley Cooper as Eric Draven, before Cooper exited the project.
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's Relativity Media is currently negotiating 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 reboot. Relativity Media's Tooley will serve as executive producer, while Jose
Ibanez, Jon Katz and Jesus de la Vega will serve as co-producers. Bradley Cooper was in talks to play the lead.
It was reported on April 20, 2011 that the film is reportedly 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 the Watchmen film.
In mid-August 2011, it was announced that Cooper has dropped out due to scheduling difficulties and Mark Wahlberg, who was originally in talks for the lead in 2010, is up for the part, with also rumors of Channing Tatum or Ryan Gosling possibly taking the role.
It was confirmed in January 2012 that F. Javier Gutierrez has signed on to direct the remake, with Edward R. Pressman and Jeff Most on producing duties.
Pre-production[]
According to Edward R.Pressman, the remake is a 'reinvention' of James O'Barr's Graphic Novel for the 21st Century. "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 Gutierrez and screenwriter Jesse Wigutow on this story, which remains true to the core of Eric Draven's plight for revenge," he said. "Giving too much away wouldn't be any fun. 'Disorder, chaos, anarchy -- now that's fun!'
On April 1, 2012, it was announced as an April Fools' joke that Skrillex was going to be starring as Eric.
As of September 12th 2012, F. Javier Gutierrez posted several photo's on Instagram taken during his work on The Crow including a photo of a screenplay labled 'The Crow' and a few notes taken by Gutierrez whilst studying the graphic novel.
As of December 9th 2012, F. Javier Gutierrez has posted more photo's on Instagram confirming that production on The Crow is still taking place. Gutierrez was pictured scouting for shooting locations for 'The Crow'.
F.Javier Gutierrez posted more photo's on Instagram, one in particular details a line in the script; "Your soul rots, it festers. But fear not. I have medicine." taken directly from the Graphic Novel. Other photo's posted show Gutierrez scouting for filming locations.
On February 25th 2013, Bloody Disgusting reported that James McAvoy was in talks to play the lead role in The Crow. Which then turned out to be speculation.
On April 20th 2013. It was reported that the producers are interested in, spoken to and had a 'home made' make up test with Tom Hiddleston of The Avengers fame. The screen test is likely to take place over the next few days.
On April 30th 2013. It was confirmed that the producers were only 'in talks' with Tom Hiddleston and that it is unlikely he will be casted. Apparently HBO's True Blood star Alexander Skarsgard is frontrunning the list of actors to play Eric. On May 2nd 2013, Skarsgard himself confirmed that he was not attached to The Crow.
On May 4th 2013 it was confirmed that Welsh actor Luke Evans (the original choice for the role) has been cast in the title role.
On his role as Eric Draven, Luke Evans had to say this; "The Crow was a very poignant film from my childhood, which I remember vividly. The soundtrack, also. It was such a solid performance that Brandon Lee gave. It was a very tragic end for somebody that probably would have had a very promising career... I'm Eric Draven. I'm the same character. Obviously, he's been refreshed and brought up to date. We're reimagining it to a certain extent, but the story and the plot is mostly the same."
In July 2013, it was announced that the original author and illustrator of The Crow, James O'Barr had joined the project as a consultant, saying this about the project; "It is important for 'Crow' fans to understand that Relativity, Javier, Luke and the entire team are working on a new adaptation of the book itself."
It was also announced that Guttierez and O'Barr would be hosting a panel at the 2013 San Diego Comic Con, answering question's about the movie itself. At Comic Con, Shock Till You Drop got an interview with Gutierrez, he said this about the film; "The darkness, the beauty, the violence and love. That's what got me excited. A lot of fans responded to the original movie, but this is going to be different. This is going to give them some good gifts. We're going to pull some stuff from the original comic that's going to be tough and we're going to do it in an original and artistic way."
(O'Barr's interview is featured in the 'Early Reception' portion of the article).
Rumour has it that Norman Reedus (of The Walking Dead fame) was in talks to play a character called 'James' in the film. This proved to be true, albeit with the character of 'James' being false. Reedus was in talks to portray Funboy. But O'Barr confirmed in October 2014 that Reedus would not be in the movie due to commitments such as The Walking Dead and Hideo Kojima and Guillermo Del Toro's upcoming video game; Silent Hills.
Kristen Bell was approached to play Shelly, in the film. But turned the role down due to scheduling conflicts. In November 2014 a russian site posted an interview in which James O'Barr stated that Emmy Rossum was cast as Shelly in The Crow. Information is not yet verified.
O'Barr, Evans and Gutierrez have numerously confirmed that the movie will be based off of the original source material as well as some of O'Barr's and Gutierrez' ideas.
In November 2014, O'Barr confirmed that Eric will not be going by the name Eric Draven. Like the comic, he will be known solely as Eric.
In December 2014, Corin Hardy replaced F. Javier Gutierrez as the director of The Crow. The reason behind this was Gutierrez' choice to direct The Ring 3 for Paramount. Unfortunately the filming schedules for both films clashed. He remains an Executive Producer on the film. O'Barr persuaded Gutierrez to move on from the film which had been delayed multiple times.
The next day Luke Evans confirmed he was dropping out of the film, stating; "It’s not, no. No at the minute The Crow is not, not for me, I think it’s a little… I mean I’m sure it’s going to go ahead at some point, but I have other projects that are greenlit and ready to go and projects that I’m very interested in and you know, I can’t wait much longer!"
In February 2015, James O'Barr gave an interview saying that Sam Witwer (Smallville and Star Wars) was his choice for Eric following Evans' exit. He also stated that Evans exit was partially due to the studio being unwilling to pay him an A-Lister fee due to his popularity increase with hits such as Fast and Furious 6, The Hobbit film series and Dracula Untold. He has yet to pitch Witwer's casting to Corin Hardy.
He also said that the film will be shot in Technicolor as well as Black and White. He also stated that the talking crow and development of Eric and Shelly's flashbacks will be heavily included.
The film will start shooting with a $20 million debit due to years spent in Pre-Production.
In March 2015, it was announced by James O'Barr that Jack Huston and Jessica Findley Brown have been cast as Eric and Shelly. The film will shoot in Summer 2015, with a nearly all English cast including a Game of Thrones veteran.
Hardy has expressed interest in shooting the talking crow in Stop Motion of which he is very fond of.
Filming[]
Filming was due to begin Early 2014 due to Luke Evans' schedule. With prepping beginning October 2013 but due to Luke Evans' schedule, this wasn't the case.
O'Barr mentioned in an interview that filming is said to begin June 2014. But was delayed again.
Ed Pressman confirmed that The Crow will being shooting in Spring 2015. But was delayed with the exit of Gutierrez and Evans.
According to O'Barr filming will begin in Pinewood Studios in Wales and Belgium doubling for Detroit in Summer 2015.
As of now pre-production will start in February 2018 in Budapest Hungary. And its current release date is October 11, 2019.
Music[]
O'Barr has always been adamant about the importance of music in The Crow and continues to express that passion in The Crow's Reboot. He has spoken to various bands and had a large variety of original tracks created for the film. As well as licensed songs referenced in the comic including Joy Division.
Early reception[]
Upon announcement, fans of the series and original film merely be another 'Crow' rip off. Many believe that the original was Brandon Lee's biggest and most important piece of work and given that is was his final role, the remake should not be made because it will be an insult to Lee's memory.
When concept art of Bradley Cooper as Eric Draven was released, fans gave extremely negative reception.
On the news of future remakes, 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."
Since meeting with Gutierrez and Evans, O'Barr's attitude to the film has changed, he had this to say; "But what Javier told me was that he wanted to go back to the source material. Be as faithful as possible which would make it something entirely different. Proyas' film is stunning and stylized. I mean that in a good way. Nothing negative about it. Going back to the original book and keeping it grounded and realistic and dirty and gritty, it really appealed to me. Even so much as to carrying over the visual metaphors like horses and trains - where the street signs always say No Exit or One Way. Exploring it with a different attitude appealed to me."