The Crow (1994 film)
Encyclopedia
The Crow is a 1994 American action film
based on the 1989 comic book of the same name
by James O'Barr
. The film was written by David J. Schow
and John Shirley
, and directed by Alex Proyas
. The Crow stars Brandon Lee
, in his final film, as Eric Draven, a rock musician who is revived from the dead to avenge his own murder, as well as that of his fiancée.
While filming during the last weeks of production, Lee was mortally wounded when a dummy bullet, which had become lodged in one of the prop guns, was shot into his abdomen by a blank cartridge
. The film was a critical and commercial success after its release, opening at the top of the box office.
in Detroit, Sergeant Albrecht (Ernie Hudson
) is at the scene of a crime, where Shelly Webster (Sofia Shinas
) has been beaten and raped, and her fiancé, guitarist Eric Draven (Brandon Lee
), has been stabbed, shot and thrown out of the window. The couple were to be married the next day, on Halloween. As he leaves for the hospital with Shelly, Albrecht meets a young girl, Sarah (Rochelle Davis), whom Shelly and Eric take care of because her mother Darla (Anna Levine
) is a negligent drug addict. Albrecht tells her that Shelly will be okay, but Sarah knows the truth: Shelly is going to die.
One year later, to the day, a crow taps on Eric's headstone; Eric awakens from death and climbs frantically out of his grave, trembling and wracked with convulsions. Eric goes to his old apartment and finds it derelict. He has flashbacks of his death, remembering that he and Shelly were murdered by local thugs T-Bird (David Patrick Kelly
), Tin-Tin (Laurence Mason
), Funboy (Michael Massee
) and Skank (Angel David). Eric soon discovers that any wounds he suffers heal immediately, and that he, being dead, is now immune to physical harm. He then replaces his burial clothes with dark, imposing attire, and paints his face in a parody of a porcelain harlequin
mask, decorating his lips and eyes with black, scar-like slashes. Guided by the crow, he sets out to avenge his and Shelly's murders.
The crow helps Eric locate Tin-Tin. They engage in a one-on-one alley fight, which Eric wins by stabbing Tin-Tin with all of his own knives. He takes his coat, leaving a large crow-shaped bloodstain on the wall of the alley. He then goes to the pawn shop where Tin-Tin pawned Shelly's engagement ring the year before. Eric forces the owner, Gideon (Jon Polito
), to return the ring and blows up the shop, but allows Gideon to live so that he can warn the others.
Eric finds Funboy getting high on morphine
in an apartment with Darla. Funboy shoots him in the hand, and watches in horror as the wound closes up before his eyes. Eric then disarms him and shoots him in the thigh. Eric then places Funboy in the tub and confronts a hysterical Darla, grabbing her arm and showing her the reflection of her track marks in the mirror as the morphine pushes its way back out of her arm. Eric tells her to quit drugs in order to be a good mother to Sarah. Seeing Darla flee the bar, Grange (Tony Todd
) then goes upstairs to investigate, finding Funboy lying on the floor and dying from having multiple syringes stabbed into his chest. Eric visits Albrecht, explaining his rebirth and mission. Albrecht tells him what he knows about Shelly's death and that he watched as she suffered for 30 hours before dying. Eric touches Albrecht's face, and all the pain and memories of Shelly's death are transferred to Eric. Gideon goes to warn Top Dollar (Michael Wincott
), the local crime boss and T-Bird's superior, who thinks Gideon is making it all up and kills him by stabbing him in the throat with a rapier
.
As T-Bird and Skank stop at a convenience store to get some supplies, Eric arrives and kidnaps T-Bird. Skank follows the pair and sees Eric as he ties T-Bird to the driver's seat of a car, straps explosives to him, and lets the car drive off the pier, where it explodes in mid-air, killing T-Bird. Eric leaves a fiery symbol in the shape of a crow burning at the scene. Meanwhile, Sarah and her mother begin to repair their strained relationship. Sarah goes to Eric's old apartment and tells him that she misses him and Shelly. Eric explains that, even though they cannot be friends anymore, he still cares about her. Top Dollar and his lover/half-sister Myca (Bai Ling
) have become aware of Eric's actions through various reports from witnesses. He holds a meeting with his associates where they discuss new plans for their Devil's Night crime spree. Eric arrives at the meeting, looking for Skank. Top Dollar orders his men to shoot Eric, and a massive gun fight ensues. Top Dollar escapes quickly with Myca and Grange, while Eric systematically kills everyone in the room and, last of all, Skank, whom Eric throws out of a window.
Eric, having finished his quest, returns to his grave. Sarah goes to say goodbye to him and he gives her Shelly's engagement ring. She is then abducted by Grange, who takes her into a nearby church and where Top Dollar and Myca are waiting. Through the crow, Eric realizes what has happened and goes to the church to rescue her. Unfortunately, Grange shoots the crow as it flies into the church, causing Eric to lose his invincibility. Albrecht arrives, intending to pay his respects to Eric, just after Top Dollar shoots and wounds Eric. Myca then grabs the wounded crow, intending to take its mystical power. Top Dollar ties Sarah up and climbs the bell tower as a fight ensues, with Albrecht killing Grange. When Albrecht is wounded, Eric climbs to the roof of the church on his own. On the way up, he encounters Myca, who tells him that all of the power that he ever had will soon be hers. However, just before she is about to shoot Eric, the crow escapes Myca's grip and pecks her eyes out, and then knocks her down the bell tower to her death. Eric reaches the roof of the church and encounters Top Dollar, who admits ultimate responsibility for what happened to Eric and Shelly. They fight, and in the end, Eric gives Top Dollar the 30 hours of pain he absorbed from Albrecht and brutally squeezes his eyes in with his thumbs; the sensation sends Top Dollar flying off the roof of the church to be impaled on the horns of a gargoyle
. Albrecht goes to the hospital, and Eric is reunited with Shelly at their graves.
Later, Sarah pays a final visit to the cemetery, and the crow, perched on Eric's headstone, gives her Shelly's engagement ring, dropping it in her open hand before soaring over the city and into the night.
, Brandon Lee sustained an accidental gunshot wound on the set of the film. He was taken to an area hospital, where he later died. There were eight days left before shooting of the film was to be completed. The scenes involving Lee and Shinas' characters in their apartment had been saved for the end of filming so that Lee could work the final week without makeup. In the story, Lee's character comes to his apartment where his girlfriend is being raped by a gang of thugs, and then he is shot and killed by Michael Massee
's character, playing one of the thugs. Weeks prior to the event, a scene was being filmed that required dummy rounds to be shown being loaded into the handgun. Inexperienced crew members, pressured by time constraints, purchased live ammunition, removed the bullets, dumped the gunpowder, and then replaced the bullets back into the empty cartridges with the live primers still in place.
When the time came to film the scene where Michael Massee shoots Lee's character, the same gun was loaded with blank cartridges
. Unbeknownst to the crew, the bullet from one of the dummy rounds had become lodged in the barrel of the gun. It is believed that someone on set was playing with the gun, pulled the trigger and inadvertently caused the live primer to fire; this would have resulted in the bullet moving a couple of inches into the barrel of the gun. When the gun was operated, the propellant in the blank rounds – which is used to give the visible effect of a gunshot – dislodged the bullet, which penetrated Lee's abdomen and lodged in his spine. The injury caused massive blood loss. As the production company had sent the firearms specialist home early, responsibility for the guns was given to a prop assistant who was not aware of the rule for checking all firearms before and after any handling. Therefore, the barrel was not checked for obstructions when it came time to load it with the blank rounds.
Soon after the accident, Lee was taken to the New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington, where he died about 12 hours later, at 1:03 p.m. After Lee's death, the producers were faced with the decision of whether or not to continue with the film. Sofia Shinas
, who had witnessed the accident, did not want to continue and went home to Los Angeles. The rest of the cast and crew, except for Ernie Hudson, whose brother-in-law had just died, stayed in Wilmington. Paramount, who were initially interested in distributing The Crow theatrically (originally a direct-to-video feature), opted out of involvement due to delays in filming and some controversy over the violent content being inappropriate given Brandon's death. However, Miramax picked it up with the intention of releasing it in theatres and injected a further $8 million into the production to complete The Crow, taking its budget to approximately $15 million. The cast and crew then took a break with script rewrites for the flashback scenes that had yet to be completed.
gives it a "fresh" rating of 83% based on 40 reviews. Reviewers praised the action and visual style. Rolling Stone
called it a "dazzling fever dream of a movie", Caryn James writing for the New York Times called it "a genre film of a high order, stylish and smooth", and Roger Ebert
called it "a stunning work of visual style". The LA Times praised the movie also.
Lee's death was alleged to have a melancholy effect on viewers; Desson Howe of the Washington Post wrote that Lee "haunts every frame" and James Berardinelli
called the film "a case of 'art imitating death', and that specter
will always hang over The Crow". Berardinelli called it an appropriate epitaph
to Lee, Howe called it an appropriate sendoff, and Ebert stated that not only was this Lee's best film, but it was better than any of his father's (Bruce Lee
). Critics generally thought that this would have been a breakthrough film for Lee, although James disagreed. The changes made to the film after Lee's death were noted by reviewers, most of whom saw them as an improvement. Howe said that it had been transformed into something compelling. James, although terming it a genre film, said that it had become more mainstream
because of the changes.
The film was widely compared to other films, particularly Tim Burton
's Batman movies and Blade Runner
. Critics described The Crow as a darker film than the others; Ebert called it a grungier and more forbidding story than those of Batman and Blade Runner, and Todd McCarthy of Variety
wrote that the generic inner city
of Detroit portrayed in The Crow "makes Gotham City look like the Emerald City".
The distinctive features of the film for most critics were the fast-paced action and visual style. The cinematography by Dariusz Wolski
and the production design by Alex McDowell
were praised. While the plot and characterization were found to be lacking, these faults were considered to be overcome by the action and visual style. The cityscape designed by McDowell and the production team was described by McCarthy as rendered imaginatively. The film's comic book origins were noted, and Ebert called it the best version of a comic book universe
he had seen. McCarthy agreed, calling it "one of the most effective live-actioners ever derived from a comic strip". Critics felt that the soundtrack complemented this visual style, calling it blistering, edgy and boisterous. Graeme Revell was praised for his "moody" score; Howe said that it "drapes the story in a postmodern pall."
Negative reviews of the film were generally similar in theme to the positive ones but said that the interesting and "OK" special effects did not make up for the "superficial" plot, "badly-written" screenplay and "one-dimensional" characters.
The Crow is mentioned in Empire
s 2008 list of the 500 greatest movies of all time; it ranked at number 468.
50,693,129 in the United States, $94,000,000 worldwide. In the United States, it opened at #1 with $11,774,332 in its opening weekend. According to Box Office Mojo
, it ranked at 24 for all films released in the US in 1994 and 10 for R-rated films released that year.
won a BMI
film music award for his score and the Stone Temple Pilots
won the MTV Movie Award for Best Song for "Big Empty". Also at the MTV Movie Awards, the film was nominated for Best Film and Brandon Lee was nominated for Best Male Performance. The film received four Saturn Award
nominations from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA, for Best Costumes, Best Director, Best Horror film and Best Special Effects.
(their song, "Burn", became the film's main theme), The Jesus and Mary Chain
, Rage Against the Machine
, Helmet
and Stone Temple Pilots.
Several groups performed covers. Nine Inch Nails
rendered Joy Division
's "Dead Souls"; Rollins Band
covered Suicide
's "Ghost Rider"; and Pantera
performed Poison Idea
's "The Badge". The Stone Temple Pilots
song "Big Empty
" won an MTV Movie Award in 1995. It was not their original choice for the soundtrack. They recorded a version of "Only Dying", a demo
they had recorded earlier as Mighty Joe Young, which was replaced following Lee's death.
The bands Medicine
and My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult
make cameo appearances in the film, on stage in the nightclub below Top Dollar's headquarters.
The Crow: Original Motion Picture Score consisted of original, mostly orchestral music, with some electronic and guitar elements written for the film by Graeme Revell
.
. In this movie, Vincent Pérez
plays Ashe Corven, who, along with his son Danny, is killed by criminals. Ashe is resurrected as a new Crow. The character of Sarah reappears in this film and assists Ashe. This was followed by a television series and two direct-to-video sequels, each with a different person as The Crow.
The Crow: Stairway to Heaven
was a 1998 Canadian television series created by Bryce Zabel
and starring Mark Dacascos
in the lead role as Eric Draven, reprising the role originally played by Brandon Lee.
The third sequel, The Crow: Salvation
, was released in 2000. Directed by Bharat Nalluri
, it is loosely based on Poppy Z. Brite
's novel The Lazarus Heart. After its distributor cancelled the intended theatrical release due to The Crow: City of Angels receiving negative critical reception, The Crow: Salvation was released directly to video with mixed reviews.
The fourth and last sequel, The Crow: Wicked Prayer
, was released in 2005 and directed by Lance Mungia
. It was inspired by Norman Partridge
's novel of the same title. It had a one-week theatrical première on June 3, 2005 at AMC Pacific Place Theatre in Seattle, Washington
before being released direct-to-video on July 19, 2005. Like the other sequels to the cult movie, it had a poor critical reception and was considered to be the worst of the four films.
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. In October 2011 it was reported that Fresnadillo had departed the project as well.
Action film
Action film is a film genre where one or more heroes is thrust into a series of challenges that require physical feats, extended fights and frenetic chases...
based on the 1989 comic book of the same name
The Crow
The Crow is a comic book series created by James O'Barr. The series was originally written by O'Barr as a means of dealing with the death of his girlfriend at the hands of a drunk driver. It was later published by Caliber Comics in 1989, becoming an underground success, and later adapted into a...
by James O'Barr
James O'Barr
James O'Barr is an American graphic artist, best known as the creator of the comic book series The Crow.-Personal life:O'Barr, an orphan, was raised in the foster care system...
. The film was written by David J. Schow
David J. Schow
David J. Schow is an American author of horror novels, short stories, and screenplays. His credits include films such as The Crow and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning. Most of Schow's work falls into the sub-genre splatterpunk, a term he is sometimes credited with coining...
and John Shirley
John Shirley
John Shirley is an American fantasist, author of noir fiction, and science-fiction writer. Shirley is a prolific writer of novels and short stories, TV scripts and screenplays who has published over 30 books and 10 collections...
, and directed by Alex Proyas
Alex Proyas
Alexander "Alex" Proyas is a Australian film director, screenwriter, and producer. He is best known for directing such films as The Crow, Dark City, I, Robot and Knowing. He is known for employing a stylish photographic techniques in his films, with dark overtones usually in a post-apocalyptic...
. The Crow stars Brandon Lee
Brandon Lee
Brandon Bruce Lee was an American actor and martial artist. He was the son of martial arts film star Bruce Lee...
, in his final film, as Eric Draven, a rock musician who is revived from the dead to avenge his own murder, as well as that of his fiancée.
While filming during the last weeks of production, Lee was mortally wounded when a dummy bullet, which had become lodged in one of the prop guns, was shot into his abdomen by a blank cartridge
Blank (cartridge)
A blank is a type of cartridge for a firearm that contains gunpowder but no bullet or shot. When fired, the blank makes a flash and an explosive sound . Blanks are often used for simulation , training, and for signaling...
. The film was a critical and commercial success after its release, opening at the top of the box office.
Plot
On October 30, Devil's NightDevil's Night
Devil's Night or Hell Night ' is a name associated with October 30th, the night before Halloween. It is related to the "Mischief night" practiced in other parts of the United States and the world, but is chiefly associated with the serious vandalism and arson seen in Detroit, Michigan from the...
in Detroit, Sergeant Albrecht (Ernie Hudson
Ernie Hudson
Ernest Lee "Ernie" Hudson is an American actor known for his roles as Winston Zeddemore in the Ghostbusters film series, Sergeant Albrecht in The Crow, and Warden Leo Glynn on HBO's Oz.-Early life:...
) is at the scene of a crime, where Shelly Webster (Sofia Shinas
Sofia Shinas
Sofia Shinas is a Canadian television and film actress and recording artist. She is best known for her hit single, "The Message", and her role as Brandon Lee's murdered fiancée, Shelly, in The Crow.-Music:...
) has been beaten and raped, and her fiancé, guitarist Eric Draven (Brandon Lee
Brandon Lee
Brandon Bruce Lee was an American actor and martial artist. He was the son of martial arts film star Bruce Lee...
), has been stabbed, shot and thrown out of the window. The couple were to be married the next day, on Halloween. As he leaves for the hospital with Shelly, Albrecht meets a young girl, Sarah (Rochelle Davis), whom Shelly and Eric take care of because her mother Darla (Anna Levine
Anna Levine
Anna Kluger Levine is an American actress. She has also been credited as Anna Levine Thompson and Anna Thomson.-Filmography:* Desperately Seeking Susan as Crystal* Murphy's Romance as Wanda...
) is a negligent drug addict. Albrecht tells her that Shelly will be okay, but Sarah knows the truth: Shelly is going to die.
One year later, to the day, a crow taps on Eric's headstone; Eric awakens from death and climbs frantically out of his grave, trembling and wracked with convulsions. Eric goes to his old apartment and finds it derelict. He has flashbacks of his death, remembering that he and Shelly were murdered by local thugs T-Bird (David Patrick Kelly
David Patrick Kelly
David Patrick Kelly is an American actor and musician who has appeared in numerous films, including some major roles.-Career:...
), Tin-Tin (Laurence Mason
Laurence Mason
Laurence Mason is an American actor of stage, film and television.A first-generation American whose parents were originally from Trinidad, Mason graduated from New York City's High School of Performing Arts. His film credits include Hackers, Parallel Sons, Joey Breaker, True Romance, New York Cop...
), Funboy (Michael Massee
Michael Massee
Michael Massee is an American actor perhaps best known for his roles as villains in film and television, as well as his unintentional and accidental involvement in the death of Brandon Lee.-Career:...
) and Skank (Angel David). Eric soon discovers that any wounds he suffers heal immediately, and that he, being dead, is now immune to physical harm. He then replaces his burial clothes with dark, imposing attire, and paints his face in a parody of a porcelain harlequin
Harlequin
Harlequin or Arlecchino in Italian, Arlequin in French, and Arlequín in Spanish is the most popularly known of the zanni or comic servant characters from the Italian Commedia dell'arte and its descendant, the Harlequinade.-Origins:...
mask, decorating his lips and eyes with black, scar-like slashes. Guided by the crow, he sets out to avenge his and Shelly's murders.
The crow helps Eric locate Tin-Tin. They engage in a one-on-one alley fight, which Eric wins by stabbing Tin-Tin with all of his own knives. He takes his coat, leaving a large crow-shaped bloodstain on the wall of the alley. He then goes to the pawn shop where Tin-Tin pawned Shelly's engagement ring the year before. Eric forces the owner, Gideon (Jon Polito
Jon Polito
Jon Polito is an American actor and voice artist, who is known for working with the Coen Brothers, most notably in the major supporting role of Italian gangster Johnny Caspar in Miller's Crossing. He also appeared in the first two seasons of Homicide: Life on the Street and on the first season of...
), to return the ring and blows up the shop, but allows Gideon to live so that he can warn the others.
Eric finds Funboy getting high on morphine
Morphine
Morphine is a potent opiate analgesic medication and is considered to be the prototypical opioid. It was first isolated in 1804 by Friedrich Sertürner, first distributed by same in 1817, and first commercially sold by Merck in 1827, which at the time was a single small chemists' shop. It was more...
in an apartment with Darla. Funboy shoots him in the hand, and watches in horror as the wound closes up before his eyes. Eric then disarms him and shoots him in the thigh. Eric then places Funboy in the tub and confronts a hysterical Darla, grabbing her arm and showing her the reflection of her track marks in the mirror as the morphine pushes its way back out of her arm. Eric tells her to quit drugs in order to be a good mother to Sarah. Seeing Darla flee the bar, Grange (Tony Todd
Tony Todd
Anthony T. "Tony" Todd is an American actor and movie producer, known for his height of 6'5", and deep voice. He is well known for playing the Candyman in the horror movie franchise of the same name, William Bludworth in Final Destination and for guest starring roles on numerous television...
) then goes upstairs to investigate, finding Funboy lying on the floor and dying from having multiple syringes stabbed into his chest. Eric visits Albrecht, explaining his rebirth and mission. Albrecht tells him what he knows about Shelly's death and that he watched as she suffered for 30 hours before dying. Eric touches Albrecht's face, and all the pain and memories of Shelly's death are transferred to Eric. Gideon goes to warn Top Dollar (Michael Wincott
Michael Wincott
Michael Anthony Claudio Wincott is a Canadian actor.Wincott was born in Toronto, Ontario and is renown for playing villainous roles-Filmography:*Title Shot - Robber*Wild Horse Hank - Charlie Connors...
), the local crime boss and T-Bird's superior, who thinks Gideon is making it all up and kills him by stabbing him in the throat with a rapier
Rapier
A rapier is a slender, sharply pointed sword, ideally used for thrusting attacks, used mainly in Early Modern Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries.-Description:...
.
As T-Bird and Skank stop at a convenience store to get some supplies, Eric arrives and kidnaps T-Bird. Skank follows the pair and sees Eric as he ties T-Bird to the driver's seat of a car, straps explosives to him, and lets the car drive off the pier, where it explodes in mid-air, killing T-Bird. Eric leaves a fiery symbol in the shape of a crow burning at the scene. Meanwhile, Sarah and her mother begin to repair their strained relationship. Sarah goes to Eric's old apartment and tells him that she misses him and Shelly. Eric explains that, even though they cannot be friends anymore, he still cares about her. Top Dollar and his lover/half-sister Myca (Bai Ling
Bai Ling
Bai Ling is a Chinese actress known for her work in films such as The Crow, Red Corner and Wild Wild West, and in TV series such as Entourage and Lost. In 2011 she appeared in the fifth season of the VH1 reality television series Celebrity Rehab with Dr...
) have become aware of Eric's actions through various reports from witnesses. He holds a meeting with his associates where they discuss new plans for their Devil's Night crime spree. Eric arrives at the meeting, looking for Skank. Top Dollar orders his men to shoot Eric, and a massive gun fight ensues. Top Dollar escapes quickly with Myca and Grange, while Eric systematically kills everyone in the room and, last of all, Skank, whom Eric throws out of a window.
Eric, having finished his quest, returns to his grave. Sarah goes to say goodbye to him and he gives her Shelly's engagement ring. She is then abducted by Grange, who takes her into a nearby church and where Top Dollar and Myca are waiting. Through the crow, Eric realizes what has happened and goes to the church to rescue her. Unfortunately, Grange shoots the crow as it flies into the church, causing Eric to lose his invincibility. Albrecht arrives, intending to pay his respects to Eric, just after Top Dollar shoots and wounds Eric. Myca then grabs the wounded crow, intending to take its mystical power. Top Dollar ties Sarah up and climbs the bell tower as a fight ensues, with Albrecht killing Grange. When Albrecht is wounded, Eric climbs to the roof of the church on his own. On the way up, he encounters Myca, who tells him that all of the power that he ever had will soon be hers. However, just before she is about to shoot Eric, the crow escapes Myca's grip and pecks her eyes out, and then knocks her down the bell tower to her death. Eric reaches the roof of the church and encounters Top Dollar, who admits ultimate responsibility for what happened to Eric and Shelly. They fight, and in the end, Eric gives Top Dollar the 30 hours of pain he absorbed from Albrecht and brutally squeezes his eyes in with his thumbs; the sensation sends Top Dollar flying off the roof of the church to be impaled on the horns of a gargoyle
Gargoyle
In architecture, a gargoyle is a carved stone grotesque, usually made of granite, with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building thereby preventing rainwater from running down masonry walls and eroding the mortar between...
. Albrecht goes to the hospital, and Eric is reunited with Shelly at their graves.
Later, Sarah pays a final visit to the cemetery, and the crow, perched on Eric's headstone, gives her Shelly's engagement ring, dropping it in her open hand before soaring over the city and into the night.
Cast
- Brandon LeeBrandon LeeBrandon Bruce Lee was an American actor and martial artist. He was the son of martial arts film star Bruce Lee...
as Eric Draven - Rochelle Davis as Sarah
- Ernie HudsonErnie HudsonErnest Lee "Ernie" Hudson is an American actor known for his roles as Winston Zeddemore in the Ghostbusters film series, Sergeant Albrecht in The Crow, and Warden Leo Glynn on HBO's Oz.-Early life:...
as Sgt. Albrecht - Michael WincottMichael WincottMichael Anthony Claudio Wincott is a Canadian actor.Wincott was born in Toronto, Ontario and is renown for playing villainous roles-Filmography:*Title Shot - Robber*Wild Horse Hank - Charlie Connors...
as Top Dollar - Bai LingBai LingBai Ling is a Chinese actress known for her work in films such as The Crow, Red Corner and Wild Wild West, and in TV series such as Entourage and Lost. In 2011 she appeared in the fifth season of the VH1 reality television series Celebrity Rehab with Dr...
as Myca - Sofia ShinasSofia ShinasSofia Shinas is a Canadian television and film actress and recording artist. She is best known for her hit single, "The Message", and her role as Brandon Lee's murdered fiancée, Shelly, in The Crow.-Music:...
as Shelly Webster - Anna LevineAnna LevineAnna Kluger Levine is an American actress. She has also been credited as Anna Levine Thompson and Anna Thomson.-Filmography:* Desperately Seeking Susan as Crystal* Murphy's Romance as Wanda...
as Darla - David Patrick KellyDavid Patrick KellyDavid Patrick Kelly is an American actor and musician who has appeared in numerous films, including some major roles.-Career:...
as T-Bird - Angel David as Skank
- Laurence MasonLaurence MasonLaurence Mason is an American actor of stage, film and television.A first-generation American whose parents were originally from Trinidad, Mason graduated from New York City's High School of Performing Arts. His film credits include Hackers, Parallel Sons, Joey Breaker, True Romance, New York Cop...
as Tin-Tin - Michael MasseeMichael MasseeMichael Massee is an American actor perhaps best known for his roles as villains in film and television, as well as his unintentional and accidental involvement in the death of Brandon Lee.-Career:...
as Funboy - Tony ToddTony ToddAnthony T. "Tony" Todd is an American actor and movie producer, known for his height of 6'5", and deep voice. He is well known for playing the Candyman in the horror movie franchise of the same name, William Bludworth in Final Destination and for guest starring roles on numerous television...
as Grange - Jon PolitoJon PolitoJon Polito is an American actor and voice artist, who is known for working with the Coen Brothers, most notably in the major supporting role of Italian gangster Johnny Caspar in Miller's Crossing. He also appeared in the first two seasons of Homicide: Life on the Street and on the first season of...
as Gideon - Bill RaymondBill RaymondBill Raymond is an actor who has appeared in film, television and theatre since the 1960s.-Life and career:He featured in the second and fifth seasons of the HBO drama The Wire as "The Greek", the mysterious head of an international criminal organization. Other TV appearances include Miami Vice,...
as Mickey - Marco Rodríguez as Torres
Death of Brandon Lee
On March 31, 1993, at EUE Screen Gems Studios in Wilmington, North CarolinaWilmington, North Carolina
Wilmington is a port city in and is the county seat of New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. The population is 106,476 according to the 2010 Census, making it the eighth most populous city in the state of North Carolina...
, Brandon Lee sustained an accidental gunshot wound on the set of the film. He was taken to an area hospital, where he later died. There were eight days left before shooting of the film was to be completed. The scenes involving Lee and Shinas' characters in their apartment had been saved for the end of filming so that Lee could work the final week without makeup. In the story, Lee's character comes to his apartment where his girlfriend is being raped by a gang of thugs, and then he is shot and killed by Michael Massee
Michael Massee
Michael Massee is an American actor perhaps best known for his roles as villains in film and television, as well as his unintentional and accidental involvement in the death of Brandon Lee.-Career:...
's character, playing one of the thugs. Weeks prior to the event, a scene was being filmed that required dummy rounds to be shown being loaded into the handgun. Inexperienced crew members, pressured by time constraints, purchased live ammunition, removed the bullets, dumped the gunpowder, and then replaced the bullets back into the empty cartridges with the live primers still in place.
When the time came to film the scene where Michael Massee shoots Lee's character, the same gun was loaded with blank cartridges
Blank (cartridge)
A blank is a type of cartridge for a firearm that contains gunpowder but no bullet or shot. When fired, the blank makes a flash and an explosive sound . Blanks are often used for simulation , training, and for signaling...
. Unbeknownst to the crew, the bullet from one of the dummy rounds had become lodged in the barrel of the gun. It is believed that someone on set was playing with the gun, pulled the trigger and inadvertently caused the live primer to fire; this would have resulted in the bullet moving a couple of inches into the barrel of the gun. When the gun was operated, the propellant in the blank rounds – which is used to give the visible effect of a gunshot – dislodged the bullet, which penetrated Lee's abdomen and lodged in his spine. The injury caused massive blood loss. As the production company had sent the firearms specialist home early, responsibility for the guns was given to a prop assistant who was not aware of the rule for checking all firearms before and after any handling. Therefore, the barrel was not checked for obstructions when it came time to load it with the blank rounds.
Soon after the accident, Lee was taken to the New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington, where he died about 12 hours later, at 1:03 p.m. After Lee's death, the producers were faced with the decision of whether or not to continue with the film. Sofia Shinas
Sofia Shinas
Sofia Shinas is a Canadian television and film actress and recording artist. She is best known for her hit single, "The Message", and her role as Brandon Lee's murdered fiancée, Shelly, in The Crow.-Music:...
, who had witnessed the accident, did not want to continue and went home to Los Angeles. The rest of the cast and crew, except for Ernie Hudson, whose brother-in-law had just died, stayed in Wilmington. Paramount, who were initially interested in distributing The Crow theatrically (originally a direct-to-video feature), opted out of involvement due to delays in filming and some controversy over the violent content being inappropriate given Brandon's death. However, Miramax picked it up with the intention of releasing it in theatres and injected a further $8 million into the production to complete The Crow, taking its budget to approximately $15 million. The cast and crew then took a break with script rewrites for the flashback scenes that had yet to be completed.
Critics
The Crow was well-received by critics; review aggregate website Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
gives it a "fresh" rating of 83% based on 40 reviews. Reviewers praised the action and visual style. Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
called it a "dazzling fever dream of a movie", Caryn James writing for the New York Times called it "a genre film of a high order, stylish and smooth", and Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
called it "a stunning work of visual style". The LA Times praised the movie also.
Lee's death was alleged to have a melancholy effect on viewers; Desson Howe of the Washington Post wrote that Lee "haunts every frame" and James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli is an American online film critic.-Personal life:Berardinelli was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey and spent his early childhood in Morristown, New Jersey. At the age of nine years, he relocated to the township of Cherry Hill, New Jersey...
called the film "a case of 'art imitating death', and that specter
Ghost
In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...
will always hang over The Crow". Berardinelli called it an appropriate epitaph
Epitaph
An epitaph is a short text honoring a deceased person, strictly speaking that is inscribed on their tombstone or plaque, but also used figuratively. Some are specified by the dead person beforehand, others chosen by those responsible for the burial...
to Lee, Howe called it an appropriate sendoff, and Ebert stated that not only was this Lee's best film, but it was better than any of his father's (Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee was a Chinese American, Hong Kong actor, martial arts instructor, philosopher, film director, film producer, screenwriter, and founder of the Jeet Kune Do martial arts movement...
). Critics generally thought that this would have been a breakthrough film for Lee, although James disagreed. The changes made to the film after Lee's death were noted by reviewers, most of whom saw them as an improvement. Howe said that it had been transformed into something compelling. James, although terming it a genre film, said that it had become more mainstream
Mainstream
Mainstream is, generally, the common current thought of the majority. However, the mainstream is far from cohesive; rather the concept is often considered a cultural construct....
because of the changes.
The film was widely compared to other films, particularly Tim Burton
Tim Burton
Timothy William "Tim" Burton is an American film director, film producer, writer and artist. He is famous for dark, quirky-themed movies such as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet...
's Batman movies and Blade Runner
Blade Runner
Blade Runner is a 1982 American science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, and Sean Young. The screenplay, written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples, is loosely based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K...
. Critics described The Crow as a darker film than the others; Ebert called it a grungier and more forbidding story than those of Batman and Blade Runner, and Todd McCarthy of Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
wrote that the generic inner city
Inner city
The inner city is the central area of a major city or metropolis. In the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Ireland, the term is often applied to the lower-income residential districts in the city centre and nearby areas...
of Detroit portrayed in The Crow "makes Gotham City look like the Emerald City".
The distinctive features of the film for most critics were the fast-paced action and visual style. The cinematography by Dariusz Wolski
Dariusz Wolski
Dariusz Adam Wolski is a Polish-born film and music video cinematographer. He is best known for his work as cinematographer on the Pirates of the Caribbean film series and on Alex Proyas' cult classics The Crow and Dark City. Many of his collaborations include working with film directors like Tony...
and the production design by Alex McDowell
Alex McDowell
Alex McDowell, RDI is British production designer and film producer.McDowell was born in Borneo to parents of English origin. He wanted to become a painter and studied at the Central School of Art in London. He founded Rocking Russian Design in 1978 and started his career designing album covers...
were praised. While the plot and characterization were found to be lacking, these faults were considered to be overcome by the action and visual style. The cityscape designed by McDowell and the production team was described by McCarthy as rendered imaginatively. The film's comic book origins were noted, and Ebert called it the best version of a comic book universe
Fictional universe
A fictional universe is a self-consistent fictional setting with elements that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed or fictional realm ....
he had seen. McCarthy agreed, calling it "one of the most effective live-actioners ever derived from a comic strip". Critics felt that the soundtrack complemented this visual style, calling it blistering, edgy and boisterous. Graeme Revell was praised for his "moody" score; Howe said that it "drapes the story in a postmodern pall."
Negative reviews of the film were generally similar in theme to the positive ones but said that the interesting and "OK" special effects did not make up for the "superficial" plot, "badly-written" screenplay and "one-dimensional" characters.
The Crow is mentioned in Empire
Empire (magazine)
Empire is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. From the first issue in July 1989, the magazine was edited by Barry McIlheney and published by Emap. Bauer purchased Emap Consumer Media in early 2008...
s 2008 list of the 500 greatest movies of all time; it ranked at number 468.
Box office
The film grossed $United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
50,693,129 in the United States, $94,000,000 worldwide. In the United States, it opened at #1 with $11,774,332 in its opening weekend. According to Box Office Mojo
Box Office Mojo
Box Office Mojo is a website that tracks box office revenue in a systematic, algorithmic way. Brandon Gray started the site in 1999. In 2002, Gray partnered with Sean Saulsbury and they grew the site to nearly two million readers when, in July 2008, the company was purchased by Amazon.com through...
, it ranked at 24 for all films released in the US in 1994 and 10 for R-rated films released that year.
Awards
In 1995, Graeme RevellGraeme Revell
Graeme Revell is a New Zealand film score composer.Revell attended Auckland Grammar School, where he finished his final year in 7A...
won a BMI
Broadcast Music Incorporated
Broadcast Music, Inc. is one of three United States performing rights organizations, along with ASCAP and SESAC. It collects license fees on behalf of songwriters, composers, and music publishers and distributes them as royalties to those members whose works have been performed...
film music award for his score and the Stone Temple Pilots
Stone Temple Pilots
Stone Temple Pilots is an American rock band from San Diego, California that consists of Scott Weiland , brothers Robert DeLeo and Dean DeLeo , and Eric Kretz ....
won the MTV Movie Award for Best Song for "Big Empty". Also at the MTV Movie Awards, the film was nominated for Best Film and Brandon Lee was nominated for Best Male Performance. The film received four Saturn Award
Saturn Award
The Saturn Award is an award presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films to honor the top works in science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, television, and home video. The Saturn Awards were devised by Dr. Donald A. Reed in 1972, who felt that films within...
nominations from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA, for Best Costumes, Best Director, Best Horror film and Best Special Effects.
Soundtracks
The original soundtrack album for The Crow features songs from the film, and was a chart-topping album. It included work by The CureThe Cure
The Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976. The band has experienced several line-up changes, with frontman, vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Robert Smith being the only constant member...
(their song, "Burn", became the film's main theme), The Jesus and Mary Chain
The Jesus and Mary Chain
The Jesus and Mary Chain are a Scottish alternative rock band formed in East Kilbride, Glasgow in 1983. The band revolves around the songwriting partnership of brothers Jim and William Reid...
, Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1991, the group's line-up consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commerford, guitarist Tom Morello and drummer Brad Wilk...
, Helmet
Helmet (band)
Helmet is an alternative metal band from New York City formed in 1989. Founded by vocalist and lead guitarist Page Hamilton, Helmet has had numerous lineup changes, and Hamilton has been the only constant member....
and Stone Temple Pilots.
Several groups performed covers. Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails is an American industrial rock project, founded in 1988 by Trent Reznor in Cleveland, Ohio. As its main producer, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, Reznor is the only official member of Nine Inch Nails and remains solely responsible for its direction...
rendered Joy Division
Joy Division
Joy Division were an English rock band formed in 1976 in Salford, Greater Manchester. Originally named Warsaw, the band primarily consisted of Ian Curtis , Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris .Joy Division rapidly evolved from their initial punk rock influences...
's "Dead Souls"; Rollins Band
Rollins Band
Rollins Band was an American rock band led by singer and songwriter Henry Rollins.They are best known for the songs "Low Self Opinion" and "Liar", which both earned heavy airplay on MTV in the early 1990s...
covered Suicide
Suicide (band)
Suicide is an American electronic protopunk musical duo, intermittently active since 1970 and composed of vocalist Alan Vega and Martin Rev on synthesizers and drum machines. They are an early synthesizer/vocal musical duo....
's "Ghost Rider"; and Pantera
Pantera
Pantera was an American heavy metal band from Arlington, Texas. Formed by the Abbott brothers, Vinnie Paul and Dimebag Darrell in 1981, bassist Rex Brown would join in late 1981 with vocalist Terry Glaze. Looking for a new and heavier sound, Pantera had Terry replaced in 1987 with Phil Anselmo as...
performed Poison Idea
Poison Idea
Poison Idea was an American hardcore punk band formed in Portland, Oregon in 1980. The band originally dissolved in 1993, but has been playing intermittently since 1998.-Formation, 1980's and 90's:...
's "The Badge". The Stone Temple Pilots
Stone Temple Pilots
Stone Temple Pilots is an American rock band from San Diego, California that consists of Scott Weiland , brothers Robert DeLeo and Dean DeLeo , and Eric Kretz ....
song "Big Empty
Big Empty
"Big Empty" is a song by the American hard rock band Stone Temple Pilots that first appeared in 1994 on the soundtrack to the Brandon Lee movie The Crow. The song later appeared on the band's second album, Purple. The song was released as a successful single, reaching #3 and #7 on the Billboard...
" won an MTV Movie Award in 1995. It was not their original choice for the soundtrack. They recorded a version of "Only Dying", a demo
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
they had recorded earlier as Mighty Joe Young, which was replaced following Lee's death.
The bands Medicine
Medicine (band)
Medicine is an alternative noise-pop/rock band from the San Fernando Valley, United States. They were formed in 1991 by guitarist Brad Laner and signed to Rick Rubin's American Recordings label the following year...
and My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult
My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult
My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult is an American electronic industrial rock band originally based out of Chicago, Illinois.-History:...
make cameo appearances in the film, on stage in the nightclub below Top Dollar's headquarters.
The Crow: Original Motion Picture Score consisted of original, mostly orchestral music, with some electronic and guitar elements written for the film by Graeme Revell
Graeme Revell
Graeme Revell is a New Zealand film score composer.Revell attended Auckland Grammar School, where he finished his final year in 7A...
.
Sequels
In 1996, a sequel was released, called The Crow: City of AngelsThe Crow: City of Angels
The Crow: City of Angels is a 1996 action film directed by Tim Pope. It is a sequel to the 1994 cult film The Crow.-Plot:The film is set in Los Angeles, where drug king Judah Earl controls it all...
. In this movie, Vincent Pérez
Vincent Pérez
Vincent Pérez is a Swiss-born French speaking actor and director. He is best known internationally for playing the title character Ashe Corven in The Crow: City of Angels, and for starring in Queen of the Damned, playing Marius de Romanus...
plays Ashe Corven, who, along with his son Danny, is killed by criminals. Ashe is resurrected as a new Crow. The character of Sarah reappears in this film and assists Ashe. This was followed by a television series and two direct-to-video sequels, each with a different person as The Crow.
The Crow: Stairway to Heaven
The Crow: Stairway to Heaven
The Crow: Stairway to Heaven was a 1998 Canadian television series created by Bryce Zabel based on The Crow comic by James O'Barr starring Mark Dacascos in the lead role as Eric Draven, reprising the role originally played by Brandon Lee in the 1994 film The Crow...
was a 1998 Canadian television series created by Bryce Zabel
Bryce Zabel
Bryce H. Zabel is an American television producer, director, writer, and occasional actor. He is known as the chairman/CEO of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences who was forced to twice postpone the Emmy Awards following the September 11 attacks...
and starring Mark Dacascos
Mark Dacascos
Mark Alan Dacascos is an American actor and martial artist. He won numerous karate and various styles of kung fu championships between the ages of 7 and 18....
in the lead role as Eric Draven, reprising the role originally played by Brandon Lee.
The third sequel, The Crow: Salvation
The Crow: Salvation
The Crow: Salvation is a 2000 film directed by Bharat Nalluri. The film is the third in a series based on The Crow comic book by James O'Barr...
, was released in 2000. Directed by Bharat Nalluri
Bharat Nalluri
Bharat Nalluri is a British television director, best known for his work with the independent production company Kudos Film & Television in the 2000s and early 2010s. For Kudos, he has directed episodes of Spooks, Life on Mars, Hustle , and Outcasts: all for transmission on BBC One...
, it is loosely based on Poppy Z. Brite
Poppy Z. Brite
Poppy Z. Brite is an American author. Brite initially achieved notoriety in the gothic horror genre of literature in the early 1990s after publishing a string of successful novels and short story collections...
's novel The Lazarus Heart. After its distributor cancelled the intended theatrical release due to The Crow: City of Angels receiving negative critical reception, The Crow: Salvation was released directly to video with mixed reviews.
The fourth and last sequel, The Crow: Wicked Prayer
The Crow: Wicked Prayer
The Crow: Wicked Prayer is a 2005 American film directed by Lance Mungia and inspired by Norman Partridge's novel of the same title. It is the fourth and final film based on The Crow comic book by James O'Barr. It had a one week theatrical premiere on June 3, 2005 at AMC Pacific Place Theatre in...
, was released in 2005 and directed by Lance Mungia
Lance Mungia
Lance Mungia is an American screenwriter and film director, of the film Six String Samurai; and co-writer/director of The Crow: Wicked Prayer for Dimension Films....
. It was inspired by Norman Partridge
Norman Partridge
Norman Partridge is an American author of horror and mystery fiction. He has written two detective novels about retired boxer Jack Baddalach, Saguaro Riptide and The Ten Ounce Siesta. He is also the author of a Crow novel, The Crow: Wicked Prayer, which was adapted in 2005 into the fourth Crow...
's novel of the same title. It had a one-week theatrical première on June 3, 2005 at AMC Pacific Place Theatre in Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
before being released direct-to-video on July 19, 2005. Like the other sequels to the cult movie, it had a poor critical reception and was considered to be the worst of the four films.
Remake
On December 14, 2008, Stephen NorringtonStephen Norrington
Stephen Norrington is a British film director whose credits include Death Machine and the comic book adaptations Blade and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.-Life and career:...
announced in Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
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
Ryan Kavanaugh
Ryan Kavanaugh is an American film producer and entrepreneur who is the founder and CEO of Relativity Media.- Early life :...
's Relativity Media
Relativity Media
Relativity Media is an American independent motion picture production and investment company based in West Hollywood, California.- Company :...
is currently negotiating with Edward R. Pressman
Edward R. Pressman
Edward R. Pressman is an American film producer.Pressman was born in New York City, New York, the son of Lynn and Jack Pressman, known as the "King of Marbles", who founded the Pressman Toy Corporation.-Filmography:...
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
28 Weeks Later
28 Weeks Later is a 2007 British/Spanish film sequel to the 2002 post-apocalyptic horror film 28 Days Later. 28 Weeks Later was directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo and released in the United Kingdom and United States on 11 May 2007...
director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
Juan Carlos Fresnadillo is a Spanish film director, script writer, and producer. He directed Intacto and 28 Weeks Later, the sequel to Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later. His film Esposados was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film in 1996.-Early life:Fresnadillo was born in...
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
Bradley Cooper
Bradley Cooper is an American film, theater, and television actor. He is known for his roles in the films The Hangover, The A-Team, and Limitless. In 2011, People magazine named Cooper "Sexiest Man Alive".-Early life:...
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
Relativity Media
Relativity Media is an American independent motion picture production and investment company based in West Hollywood, California.- Company :...
announced their plans to continue in mid-lawsuit and had tapped Alex Tse
Alex Tse
Alex R. Tse is an American screenwriter who grew up in San Francisco and attended Emerson College in Boston. His first script to be produced was Sucker Free City, a Showtime television movie directed by Spike Lee and released in 2004...
, who co-wrote the Watchmen
Watchmen (film)
Watchmen is a 2009 superhero film directed by Zack Snyder and starring Malin Åkerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Patrick Wilson. It is an adaptation of the comic book of the same name by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons...
film. In mid-August 2011, it was announced that Cooper has dropped out due to scheduling difficulties and Mark Wahlberg
Mark Wahlberg
Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg is an American actor, film and television producer, and former rapper. He was known as Marky Mark in his earlier years, and became famous for his 1991 debut as a musician with the band Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. He was named No. 1 on VH1's 40 Hottest Hotties of...
, who was originally in talks for the lead in 2010, is up for the part, with also rumors of Channing Tatum
Channing Tatum
Channing Matthew Tatum is an American actor and film producer. He began his career as a fashion model and appearing in television commercials for Pepsi and Mountain Dew before turning to film roles...
or Ryan Gosling
Ryan Gosling
Ryan Thomas Gosling is a Canadian actor and musician. He first came to public attention as a child star on the Disney Channel's Mickey Mouse Club and went on to appear in other family entertainment programmes including Are You Afraid of the Dark? , Goosebumps , Breaker High and Young Hercules...
possibly taking the role. In October 2011 it was reported that Fresnadillo had departed the project as well.
External links
- The Crow (album) at MusicBrainzMusicBrainzMusicBrainz is a project that aims to create an open content music database. Similar to the freedb project, it was founded in response to the restrictions placed on the CDDB...
- The Crow (score) at MusicBrainzMusicBrainzMusicBrainz is a project that aims to create an open content music database. Similar to the freedb project, it was founded in response to the restrictions placed on the CDDB...