'The Crow' remake will start production in February 2018 - no really!?
As the project stands, The Crow is set to kickoff production in February and will pair director Corin Hardy (confirmed) with upcoming Justice Leaguer, Jason Momoa (unconfirmed). Please note, this news could change tomorrow....
The Crow reboot news is a continuous time loop....
If you Google "The Crow reboot" - - which I DO NOT recommend you do unless you are glutton for mental torture OR just have an affinity for the original recipe that featured Brandon Lee's dazzling (Oscar-worthy) performance as Eric Draven - - then you will inevitably be treated to a decade-long history worth of articles about the troubled reboot along with the names of actors once attached including ‘Mawk’ Wahlberg, Bradley Cooper, Luke Evans and Tom Hiddleston.
Dig a little deeper and you'll also unearth the unfortunate circumstance that The Crow's original creator - James O'Barr - owned the rights to the comics and characters but the studios owned the film rights. Meaning, all those shitty sequels not starring Brandon Lee (City of Angels, Salvation, Wicked Prayer, and the forgettable tv series - sorry Mark Dacascos) were all produced without his blessing.
So what changed O'Barr's mind? A meeting whereby Director F. Javier Gutierrez and actor Luke Evans received O’Barr’s blessing to reboot the original on the following conditions: Brandon Lee’s legacy is left untarnished (no-brainer), the reboot is a "page-for-page adaptation" of O’Barr’s graphic novel (‘94 incorporated 40% of his source material) and assurances from the Studio that O’Barr would gain full creative control of the soundtrack (this is huge), have a voice on all the casting decisions, and input in script and character development.
Okay, with that in mind, we feel a little better about this project....
So how close has The Crow reboot come to becoming a reality? Exactly three years ago today when a similar production start date was announced for the following spring of 2015. At the time, Luke Evans dropped out and Jack Huston (Broadway Empire) was announced as Evans replacement in director F. Javier Gutierrez's page-for-page adaptation. Of course, neither actors nor director are still attached but here we are yet again and The Crow has plans to start production four months from now according to James O'Barr -
“As of right now, it’s slated to start pre-production in February with a very talented British director named Corin Hardy." said O'Barr speaking with Screengeek. "I’m involved in every aspect of the film and working closely with the director.”
So what do we make of this information?
Look, while Brandon Lee's The Crow will always hold a special place in my heart, this latest reboot will do nothing to change that. In fact, I want this reboot to be good. I'm rooting for The Crow to succeed in every way James O'Barr describes. Especially when you factor his involvement in a page-1 adaptation that hopes to encompass the "darker or stranger elements of the comic" (The Skull Cowboy for starters...) previously omitted from 94's film. Couple that with the film's promising young director in Corin Hardy (The Hallow) last seen hanging out with the film's presumable star Jason Momoa, and this February production date sounds almost believable.
Whether or not the movie will be worthy is an entirely different think piece. But for now, it sounds better than 2008's breaking news featuring ‘Mawk’ Wahlberg as Eric Draven.
