Astro Heathen here!
This remake has been talked about for over a decade, and like any remake, I'm sure some of you will just skip right down to the bottom to complain about the lack of original ideas and so on, but get this: THE CROW REBORN, set for release on October 11th, 2019 won't just be staying true to the original 1989 comic by James O'Barr (they all claim that, don't they?) and starring the hunky Jason Momoa as the vengeful musician Eric Draven out to take justice for the murder of his fiance, but the screenplay is written by one of the legendary prophets of post punk and experimental goth rock, ever talented Nick Cave!
That alone makes my heart go bump in the night, how about you? Frankly, I can't think of many better people I'd choose to have written the screenplay. Directing is Corin Hardy, who has many a horror stories to his credit and thus I will remain hopeful for this epic revisit to an amazing story. Supervising special effects is Raymond Gieringer from DRAG ME TO HELL, while joining Corin for production design and cinematography are Martijn van Broekhuizen and Alex Cameron, who know each other from THE HALLOW. Like a few other visually intense films we saw last year such as BLADERUNNER:2049 and ATOMIC BLONDE, this will be filmed in the increasingly popular area of Budapest, Hungary. Other than that, not much info as of yet on who else will be joining the cast. Perhaps it's not too late for Iggy Pop to sneak in there, as he was the only redeeming quality of CITY OF ANGELS, in my humble degenerate opinion. The original CROW was certainly a staple in the cinematic diet of all edgy young adults of the 80's and 90's and continues to have a cult following today.
I'll be looking forward to this, despite how much I love the original film. With that said, I can't talk about THE CROW without mentioning Brandon Lee. Like the ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW, HEATHERS, and other gems of a film that have been remade lately, even if you enjoy them they cannot truly compare to the original and emotional responses we've associated with that. Brandon was a gift to humankind, within and without his acting career. You know that scene in the original where he's stumblin' around in the dark, and the trick or treaters run circles around him, shining their lights and laughing? Gets the waterworks going every time, one of the few movies I'll find myself grossly sobbing at the end. No, nothing can hold a candle to Brandon Lee or his performance. Alex Proyas, the director of the original, has even gone so far as to say the film shouldn't be remade because the 1994 film he directed is Brandon's film, the last chapter of his legacy that he unwittingly sacrificed his life for. No one, not even Nick Cave and Jason Momoa can take that away.
