The stalled Crow reboot’s director has hope it can still be made

The Nun director and Crow reboot hopeful Corin Hardy still has his sights set on making the stalled update.

If there is a Crow curse, it has jinxed for years attempts to produce a new version of the Alex Proyas film starring Brandon Lee which remains the most widely embraced entry in a franchise with a greater share of missteps than strikes of gold.

Real love is forever

A few short years ago, it looked like a reboot helmed by horror director Corin Hardy, and giving Aquaman star Jason Momoa another hot and hip superhero property to brag about, was gaining serious momentum. Sadly, however, as with every other try before it, the project was put on hold, and almost no new developments have turned up in recent memory.

That hasn’t deterred Hardy, though, who expressed his hope and desire in an interview with Comicbook.com to still roll into production on The Crow one day and complete the thing, saying “there’s no reason not to do a lot more with that character” given all the source material, the lore, and its relevancy to today.

Hardy stated:

"“I do think both James O’Barr’s original Crow graphic novel and the subsequent other iterations of that character in the comic books, there’s no reason not to do a lot more with that character, the concept of The Crow, the mythology of The Crow, and the tone and what that represents is still unique within the world we’re in at the moment.”"

Then avowing his love for the property and the time he put in, Hardy shared his belief he will make it one day:

"“It’s a story that I’m just in love with and wedded towards and I put three and a half, four years of life into and love and blood and sweat and tears, and I have a ton of materials, so I don’t know whether one day. I suppose I’m not really wanting to show them because I still believe there will be a Crow sometime, but we’ll see.”"

Development Hell for The Crow franchise

The new Crow has been in development for years and at one time or another, the list of names attached or in negotiation according to reports and speculation has included Tom Hiddleston, Luke Evans, Bradley Cooper, Mark Wahlberg, James McAvoy, Ryan Gosling, Channing Tatum, Sam Witwer, Alexander Skarsgard, Jack Huston, and The Batman prospects Nicholas Hoult and Jack O’Connell.

The first one came out in 1994 and was marked by the tragic and untimely death of Brandon Lee in an accident on the set involving a carelessly prepped prop firearm. It was finished using groundbreaking computer effects for the time to insert Lee’s face into certain shots. In two milestones celebrated by fans earlier in the year, 2021 is its 27th anniversary and Lee would’ve been 56.

Substandard sequels

A sequel, The Crow: City of Angels, with its own chaotic legacy followed in 1996. Telling a new story exploring more themes of life, death, love, and redemption, it was intended to be over two hours long until producer Harvey Weinstein and studio Miramax ordered the finished product to be cut down to well under that mark at almost 90 minutes. Even today, a true director’s cut restoring the original vision has never been released.

One short-lived TV series and two more sequels in The Crow: Salvation and The Crow: Wicked Prayer came later, released in 2000 and 2005 respectively. All their scores among viewers and critics on various aggregators, including City, are dismal as their mixed quality pales in comparison to the original.

The remake movie has been in the works since 2008 and started with the promise of Blade director Stephen Norrington returning to filmmaking. Corin Hardy inherited the project in 2014 with little except the material he hinted at to show for it.

Considering the tempestuous decades-long history of the series, many – including people with ties to the ’94 film – think it’s best to forget about rebooting and let Brandon Lee’s performance continue to stand the test of time as a cornerstone in movie history.

Are you disappointed there hasn’t been a Crow remake or at least a new sequel in two decades? Or do you prefer that they leave it alone? Make your feelings known in the comments and on our social media platforms.