The cult horror film The Crow is being remade after numerous attempts at its development.
Now, the movie, based off the original graphic novel by James O’Barr, is to undergo a "modern reimagining", starring Stephen King's It actor Bill Skarsgård (Pennywise) as Eric Daven, originally played by the late Brandon Lee. Starring alongside Skarsgård will be singer-songwriter FKA Twigs.
Reportedly, the project is well into preproduction ahead of its June start date, with shooting to take place in Prague and Munich.
With direction from Rupert Sanders (Snow White and the Huntsman, Ghost in the Shell), The Crow script has been penned by Academy Award-nominated Zach Baylin.
The Crow tells the story of a young man named Eric Draven who returns from the dead to avenge the murder of his fiancée, Shelley Webster, with the help of a mystical bird.
O’Barr's graphic novel was first published by Caliber Comics in 1989, and was brought to screen in 1994 by director Alex Proyas. The film, which became a cult classic, starred (son of 70s Kung Fu legend Bruce Lee) Brandon Lee, who was killed on set as a result of a prop gun accident.
Following the original film, three poorly-received sequels were made, including The Crow: City Of Angels in 1996, The Crow: Salvation in 2000 and The Crow: Wicked Prayer in 2005.
Since then, there has been multiple attempts to reboot the original. Director Stephen Norrington (Blade) initiated one remake, while F. Javier Gutiérrez (Before the Fall) and actor Luke Evans was involved in another. The most recent attempt was in 2017 when Corin Hardy (The Nun) approached the task with Jason Momoa as leading actor. Less than a year later however, both men threw in the towel following a clash over financial issues.
“The Crow is beautiful, dark, poetic and sometimes disturbing,” says director Sanders. “It is a story of love, loss, grief and revenge. It is a great honour to revisit James O’Barr’s iconic comic and reimagine The Crow as a foreboding voice of today.”
