Will The Crow Ever Return For More Movies?
There's a reboot of The Crow in development now with no release date.
The Crow, directed by Alex Proyas and starring Brandon Lee, has captivated audiences for decades with its dark visuals, memorable characters, and poignant themes. Despite multiple attempts to revive the franchise through sequels and reboots, all have faced setbacks and challenges. Nevertheless, many fans remain hopeful that the series will continue with future films, leaving the question open: Will The Crow ever return for more movies?
To answer this question, it’s important to look at the history of the franchise and the challenges that have faced previous attempts to resuscitate it. The first attempt to continue the story of The Crow was with the 1996 sequel, The Crow: City of Angels. Despite featuring a talented cast, including Vincent Perez, Mia Kirshner, and Iggy Pop, the film was a critical and commercial failure.
The third installment in the series, The Crow: Salvation, was released direct-to-video. Although it garnered mixed reviews, the film did feature notable performances from Eric Mabius and Kirsten Dunst. However, in 2005, The Crow: Wicked Prayer was released and was so poorly received that it effectively killed the franchise for years.
In 2011, a reboot of The Crow was announced with Bradley Cooper attached to star and Juan Carlos Fresnadillo set to direct. However, the project was plagued with various issues, including script problems and financial difficulties. Ultimately, the setbacks led to Cooper and Fresnadillo dropping out of the project.
Jumping ahead to 2018, another reboot of The Crow was announced, with Jason Momoa, known for his role in Aquaman, attached to star and Corin Hardy set to direct. However, this project also faced numerous challenges, including financial troubles and creative differences between the studio and Hardy. Not surprisingly, this led to Momoa and Hardy both exiting the project.
More recently, it was announced last April that Bill Skarsgard had signed on to play Eric Draven in a reboot of The Crow, with Rubert Sanders attached to direct. Filming reportedly took place in July 2022, with locations including Prague and Munich. While there’s little known about the project at this time, IMDb lists the film as being in post-production.
Given the history of The Crow franchise and the difficulties faced by previous attempts to revive it, it’s understandable why some may be skeptical about the possibility of another film ever being made. Despite reports of filming having wrapped on the latest reboot, it would come as no surprise to see the project completely unravel and never see the light of day. After all, “cursed” and The Crow seem to go hand in hand.
Fortunately, if things don’t work out for this latest iteration of The Crow, the franchise has a significant fan base. In other words, there will undoubtedly be further attempts to revive the series if, for some reason, this reboot doesn’t come to fruition. The cult status of the original film and its strong influence on goth culture means that there is a built-in audience for any new adaptation or continuation of the story.
It’s also worth noting that the success of recent comic book adaptations such as the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the DC Universe has shown there is a significant appetite for superhero and comic book-based films. While The Crow is not a traditional superhero story, it does share many similarities with the genre, including themes of justice, revenge, and redemption. Furthermore, the market for darker, more unsettling movies seems to be growing by the day, and The Crow’s themes of death and resurrection and its gothic and macabre aesthetic could appeal to audiences looking for a more mature and serious take on the superhero genre.
When it comes to any new adaptation or continuation of The Crow, one thing is certain: it must find a way to pay homage to the original film while also introducing something new and fresh to the story. So far, things appear to be progressing smoothly for the latest reboot from director Rupert Sanders. Of course, we’ll feel more assured once a release date is announced.
The upcoming reboot of The Crow is said to be a modern re-imagining of the beloved story based on the graphic novel of the same name by James O’Barr. In addition to Bill Skarsgard, the film is set to star Danny Huston, Isabella Wei, FKA Twigs, Jim High, and David Bowles. The script was written by Zach Baylin, Kevin Cornish, and Cliff Dorfman.
