The Massive Hollywood Stars That Almost Starred In The Crow Remake

Marky Mark, the feel-good family star himself, was once seriously considered to be the lead of The Crow remake. The closest Mark Wahlberg has come to being considered goth is when he walks past the Hot Topic in the Natick Mall. It’s mind-blowing that he was ever seriously considered as the jacked action star is the exact opposite of the slender Eric Draven.

Wahlberg stepped away after the director, Stephen Norrington, departed the project.

After Mark Wahlberg walked away, Bradley Cooper was the next star attached to The Crow remake. Cooper made it through the concept art stage before everything fell apart again. This time, it was because The Hangover star had a scheduling conflict, prompting him to walk away.

We like to think he saw himself in the makeup and realized that this wasn’t going to work.

One Hollywood hunk leaves The Crow remake, and another enters. Widely rumored in trade magazines at the time of Cooper’s departure was Channing Tatum taking on the role of Eric Draven. This would have been just before 21 Jump Street and Magic Mike saved his career, so not only are we sure he’s glad that nothing happened, but we’re happy too.

With most of these casting choices, it’s like no one in Hollywood has read the graphic novel or seen the original movie.

Alongside Channing Tatum, Ryan Gosling was heavily rumored for The Crow remake, making this the first casting choice we can sort of see as the undead avenger. Gosling may not be known for his dark roles, but considering he stole the show in Barbie and Drive, there’s nothing he can’t do.

Unlike Tatum and Gosling, James McAvoy was rumored to have actually signed on to The Crow remake. This is another choice that makes sense, as the future Professor X has proved his acting range, and we could see him in the famous makeup. Even at his ripped and shredded best while filming Split, McAvoy even had the right body type for Draven.

One of the stars seriously attached to The Crow remake was Tom Hiddleston, fresh off the success of The Avengers, alongside director Corin Hardy, who at the time, had primarily worked on music videos. Given that Hardy would go on to direct The Nun, and Hiddleston exploded as one of the best parts of the Marvel Universe, there’s no doubt this pairing would have been successful.

Allegedly, it was studio interference and creative differences between Hardy and the producers that caused this version to fall apart.

Bill’s older brother Alexander Skarsgard was once rumored to be in The Crow remake during the brief period after Hiddleston dropped out and his Tarzan film was put on hold. Instead, Tarzan went back into production, and Skarsgard denied the rumors that he was ever attached to the film in the first place.

While his size would have made him a very different type of Crow, the thought of Eric Northman destroying gangsters on a revenge mission sounds amazing, so we can see why this was such a big rumor at the time.

One star that was officially attached to The Crow remake was Luke Evans, but this was after Fast and Furious 6 hit theaters and before Dracula Untold was released, so he was a hot name at the time. Once his take on the Lord of the Night arrived, it’s understandable that studios cooled on him considerably. Yet for a year, Evans was working on the remake, before once again, and not for the last time, the project again fell apart.

In October 2014, Jack Huston of Boardwalk Empire, Fargo, and Ben-Hur was officially cast in The Crow remake. A few more details leaked about this version, which would have included a gender-bent Top Dollar and Forrest Whitaker was part of the cast in an undisclosed role.

Huston had to drop due to conflicts, continuing a trend, but things were soon complicated when Relativity Media, the studio holding the rights to the film, went bankrupt.

The bankruptcy brought a swift end to the Nicholas Hoult version of The Crow remake, with the X-Men: First Class and Mad Max: Fury Road star officially announced only one month before the filing took place. This was another one that we could see in the role, as Hoult proved himself to be a chameleon and was always willing to get weird when required.

Of all the stars attached to The Crow remake, Jason Momoa made it the furthest before Bill Skarsgard, going so far as to announce a release date for 2019. To his credit, Momoa appeared excited about the film, referring to it on social media as a “dream role.”

Sadly, the film again fell apart due to financial and creative disputes between the studio, Momoa, and director Colin Hardy.

Finally, in 2024, The Crow remake flew into theaters with Bill Skarsgard, fresh off his successful turn as one of John Wick’s deadliest enemies in the lead. Singer FKA Twiggs co-starred as Eric’s doomed love and, ironically, Jack Huston’s uncle, Danny Huston, as the villain.

It took a few decades, but finally, The Crow remake was able to make it through production and into theaters, where it would be met with a resounding “meh” as everyone wondered if all of this effort was truly worth it. Still, it’s amusing to think that in some other universe, the Mark Wahlberg version was released, and that’s enough to make us appreciate Skarsgard’s effort.