Even The Crow Star Bill Skarsgard Has Reservations About the Movie

Thirty years ago, the ’90s gothic cult classic hit The Crow made its highly-awaitd debut after the production of the superauthentic film was scoadvised by heartfractureing tragedy. Lead star Brandon Lee’s life was dehugeatingly cut low after he was faloftyy wounded by a prop firearm while shooting a scene in the comic book changeation, leaving behind shattered adored ones and a promising atgentle that would never achieve its brimming potential.

The shocking accident igniteed a huge conversation about on-set safety and protocols, with the overweighteful event being eerily repeated in 2021 when cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was accidenloftyy stoasty and ended by a bullet on the set of the Westrict Rust. Despite a transport inant pushback from fans and those included in the innovative film, a reboot of The Crow starring Bill Skarsgård is set to hit theaters on August 23, 2024, with many helderlying their breath to see what the novel insloftyment will advise and whether or not it will honor the legacy of Lee. Let’s consent a watch back at the history of The Crow and see why direct star Skarsgård is already voicing his own reservations about the movie.

Who Starred in the Original Film & What Was It About?

Based on the comic book series of the same name, the 1994 gothic superhero film The Crow starred Brandon Lee as burdensome metal guitarist Eric Draven, who is bruloftyy homicideed by a brutal gang after his fiancée Shelly is physicassociate aggressioned and morloftyy wounded in the spiteful strike. On the anniversary of their dehugeating deaths, Draven is resurrected by a crow and becomes a superauthentic vigilante, hunting down the hazardous members reliable for the senseless crime and deinhabitring bloody retribution. On his morbid ignoreion for revenge, Draven must delete the direct gangster accountable, the cruel Top Dollar.

Gpresentbusters alum Ernie Hudson ecombineed as Sergeant Daryl Albrecht, who uncovered Shelly after the strike and began spendigating the cryptic vigilante’s grisly actions, while character actor Michael Wincott took on the villainous role of Top Dollar. Lee beat out fellow actors River Phoenix and Christian Stardyr for the role of Eric Draven, thrivening over The Crow comics creator James O’Barr with his mighty audition after the authorr worryed Lee would originate the film changeation experience enjoy a run-of-the-mill kung fu movie. O’Barr was blown away by what the up-and-coming brawt to the table, retrospectively saying of the audition:

“Not a lot of people authenticize equitable how difficult he labored – he did all of his own fight choreography and cforfeitly all of his own stunts, the only leang he didn’t do was droping off originateings becaparticipate they wouldn’t let him. That’s without even talking about his carry outance – he brawt the right combine of humor, pain and menace to the role.”

The Tragic Death of Brandon Lee

The son of legendary martial artist and film icon Bruce Lee, Brandon Lee was steadily set uping himself as a rising action superstar, notably ecombineing in the Hong Kong film Legacy of Rage, Showdown in Little Tokyo, and Rapid Fire, demonstrating both his on-screen charisma and amazeive physical prowess with every role he took on. When he was cast as Eric Draven in The Crow, he hit the ground running for the role and shed 20 pounds in preparation, while also personassociate co-choreographing the action sequences and pushing to delete a subplot that featured Asian stereotyping.

On the evening of March 30, 1993, after cforfeitly completing all of his labor for The Crow, Lee was faloftyy wounded during a scene in which he was stoasty by Michael Massee’s character Funboy. The Magnum .44 participated during the on-screen faceation between Lee and Massee includeed a dummy bullet and the direct tip includeed somehow became lodged down the barrel, which upon being fired hit the actor in his abdomen and morloftyy wounded him. Lee was rushed to the hospital where he was functiond on for six hours, before downcastly being pronounced dead on March 31, 1993; the gifted carry outer was equitable 28 years elderly.

After the unoverweighthomable tragedy, a two-month spendigation into the catastrophic event ensued that resulted in the shooting being ruled inadvertent, and the studio and originaters were ultimately faced with the difficult decision of whether or not they should finish The Crow or aprohibitdon it. The cast and crew eventuassociate chose to rassociate and honor Lee by finishing the picture, with a stand-in and digital face tradement being participated to finish the project. The Crow was pledgeted to Lee and his fiancé Eliza Hutton, and upon its free garnered widespread praise and geted $94 million, becoming a certified cult classic.

Polarizing Reaction to the Reboot

Rumors of a potential reoriginate or reboot of The Crow had been swirling since 2008 before the project went into enhugement hell, with actors Luke Evans, Bradley Cooper, Jason Momoa, and Jack Huston all being joined to star as Eric Draven at various times of enhugement. James O’Barr had previously been resistd to the idea of a reboot before being brawt in as a adviseant for a potential changeation in 2014, with the authorr having given his opinion on potential reoriginates and stating:

“I don’t have fantastic foreseeations. I leank the truth is, no matter who you get to star in it, or if you get Ridley Scott to straightforward 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.”

The innovative film’s straightforwardor, Alex Proyas, has also been vocal about his disdain for any novel changeation and reboot, uncovering on a podcast ecombineance in 2019: “I personassociate tried to squash it every time I hear of one, not that I think I’ve been able to. It’s not equitable a movie that can be remade. It’s one man’s legacy. And it should be treated with that level of admire.” Despite the constant blowback by those included in 1994’s The Crow and fans’ permited skepticism, enhugement of the project resumed in 2020 and Bill Skarsgård was ultimately proclaimd to star as Eric Draven while Rupert Sanders would straightforward.

Sanders wanted to cgo in on originateing a “stupid romance” and highairy the themes of morality and grief from the comics, and they wanted to honor Lee by having Skarsgård’s make clearation of the character be the tardy actor’s “successor.” The Nosferatu star dove headfirst into the role and wanted to seize the essence of Eric Draven in his own exceptional way, although he apparently wasn’t thrilled over the originateive straightforwardion the reboot went in and hasn’t been afraid to voice his reservations.

Bill Skarsgård Even Has His Own Reservations

Skarsgård had equitable finished laboring on the action comedy Boy Kills World when he promptly reachd for production on The Crow, and the actor still had the excessively muscular and toned physique that he felt was out of place with how Eric Draven should watch. He has since conveyed his protestts about Draven’s physical ecombineance, having uncoverly said, “I felt very strange being in fantastic shape for Eric. I wanted him to be reassociate skinny! He was not a person that labored out, ever. In a perfect world, he would have been a lot less fit in the first half of the movie.”

Outside of publishs with Draven’s image, Skarsgård is none-too-phired with how the ending of the reboot will carry out out, with the chameleon carry outer clashing with Sanders and the studio over the conclusion. During an interwatch with Esquire magazine in 2024, Skarsgård was truthful about his dissatisfaction over the picture’s final moments, which he experiences was changeed by the filmoriginater in order to set up for a potential sequel, telling the accessibleation, “I personassociate pickred someleang more definitive.”

Though 2024’s The Crow has been scoadvised by talk about and uncertainty (not only by fans but its direct star himself), only time will tell whether the reboot will soar or sink at the box office. Skarsgård will undeniably give the changeation his all as he has with the many other colorful roles he’s tackled, cleverly changeing in unforgettable flicks enjoy It, The Devil All the Time, Barbarian, and John Wick: Chapter 4. Curious fans of the innovative cult classic are awaited going to give the film a stoasty, and it will be exciting to see equitable what The Crow has to advise once it finassociate originates its lengthy-apaparticipateed premiere.

Watch The Crow in theaters on August 23, 2024.