When asked whether he had seen the film's trailer, Ernie Hudson said he had not. He mentioned that the actor — whom he would not name — cast in the lead is someone he admires and respects, but for him 'The Crow' will always be Brandon Lee. He said he cannot imagine a replacement and hopes the new production will not attempt to recreate Lee but will take its own direction. Hudson reiterated that he hasn't watched the trailer and has avoided the other 'Crow' films because of what happened to Brandon. In an earlier interview in 2021 he explained he hadn't even seen the 1994 original, calling it heartbreaking and something he cannot get past, noting that much of it was action but that he and Brandon had the chance to work together.
Luke Evans, whilst still involved in the production of Le Hobbit : La Bataille des Cinq Armées (2014), hosted a live Q&A on Facebook. In answering certain questions, when asked whether he would take on the lead in the reboot of "The Crow", Evans said he felt inclined to withdraw from the project, describing himself as "unworthy" to portray the late Brandon Lee's most iconic role.
In a Reddit AMA, Shannon Lee, the sister of Brandon Lee, was asked whether there ought to be a remake of The Crow (1994), to which she replied, "I don't think they should remake 'The Crow.' Booooo!"
Bradley Cooper, Mark Wahlberg, Channing Tatum, Robert Pattinson, James McAvoy, Tom Hiddleston, Alexander Skarsgård, Sam Witwer, Jack Huston, Ryan Gosling, Nicholas Hoult, Jack O'Connell, Luke Evans, and Jason Momoa were all in contention to play Eric Draven. Jessica Brown Findlay and Pattinson’s former girlfriend, Kristen Stewart, were considered for Shelley Webster before Alexander’s brother, Bill Skarsgård, was confirmed in the role of Draven, with Pattinson’s former girlfriend FKA twigs confirmed to play Webster.
At one stage the Crow film was planned to be titled "The Crow Reborn", based on a screenplay by Cliff Dorfman that told an original tale of an undead police officer returning to avenge his family. The script drew the interest of Jason Momoa, who was subsequently cast in the lead, but the production collapsed when Momoa departed because he disliked the continual rewrites that eroded any trace of Dorfman's script, turning the project into more of a remake of the 1994 film and less the original story he had signed up for. Dorfman later disowned the finished film after seeing a screening, responding to potential fan scepticism about its quality with the terse remark, "It is. And don't."
Luke Evans was cast but withdrew from the lead role on 25 January 2015. Jack Huston had been cast but pulled out owing to a scheduling conflict. Jack's uncle Danny Huston was eventually cast in the film as Vincent Roeg.
F. Javier Gutiérrez was at one time being courted to direct the film, although not as a remake. Crow creator J. O'Barr said in an interview that he was impressed to discover Gutierrez planned a black-and-white, shot-for-shot recreation of the original graphic novel, relying on panels and dialogue from the source for storyboarding to remain as faithful as possible to the comic. Due to production problems and delays in filming, Gutierrez withdrew to direct Le Cercle : Rings (2017).
The film's first trailer received an overwhelmingly negative reaction. Alex Proyas, director of The Crow (1994), immediately stated that this new version should never have been produced, arguing that The Crow is more than a film — Brandon Lee died during its production and it was completed as a testament to his brilliance and tragic loss, and ought to remain his legacy. After the film's release, Proyas posted screenshots of the unfavourable reviews and remarked that the box-office takings were a bloodbath, calling the remake a cynical cash grab with little money to be had. In reply to Proyas's early criticism, lead Bill Skarsgård said he was entitled to his opinion but pointed out that the original film had already spawned three sequels (The Crow: City of Angels (1996), The Crow: Salvation (2000) and The Crow: Wicked Prayer (2005)).
In May 2018 director Corin Hardy and Jason Momoa left the project. The film was in pre-production and was reportedly five weeks from the start of filming. Their departures were said to be down to creative differences. By March 2020 no further updates on the film had emerged.
Danny Huston had originally been cast as the villain in 2015 but withdrew because of scheduling clashes. Production stalled for more than six-and-a-half years, which enabled Huston to reprise the villainous role once he was available.
Even before the film's release, Bill Skarsgård voiced criticism of the decision to alter the original ending in favour of a hook for a sequel, saying he 'preferred something more definitive'. However, the studio barred him from discussing the matter during promotional interviews.
The opening sequence, which depicts a white horse trapped and wounded on barbed wire, is a visual nod to the graphic novel "The Crow" by James O'Barr. In O'Barr's story, Eric experiences visions of a white horse running before becoming entangled in barbed wire.
Kronos, Eric's spirit guide (played by Sami Bouajila), is drawn from the Skull Cowboy in the graphic novel. That figure was originally intended to appear in The Crow (1994) too, with Michael Berryman cast in the role. The Cowboy was conceived as another dead soul roaming the Earth who would steer Eric after his return, explicitly warning him that any deviation from his quest for vengeance would cost him his invulnerability. Despite the warning, Eric chooses to risk his life and is wounded on several occasions when he helps others. Many of the Cowboy's scenes were cut during production because his look was thought to jar with the rest of the film; after Brandon Lee's accidental death during filming, the decision was made to remove the whole subplot and tie Eric's invulnerability to the wellbeing of his crow instead. This new version of The Crow reintroduces the spirit guide, but explains Eric's renewed vulnerability as stemming from the impurity of his love for Shelly.
This was the final film produced by Edward R. Pressman. He passed away on 11 January 2023 while the film was still in post-production.
Rochelle Davis, who portrayed young Sarah in The Crow (1994), shared her views on Bill Skarsgård's interpretation of Eric Draven, encapsulating the online reaction with a blunt "Yuck". She said she loathes the character's "dingy, dirty, grungy" look and argued that the producers should have chosen someone who more closely resembled Brandon Lee out of respect for the late actor. Davis also said she would have preferred greater diversity in the cast, adding that anyone other than a straight, white man would have been a preferable choice.
Graphic designer Nikola Prijic has said that Bill Skarsgård conceived the idea for the poem tattoo on his back that appears in the film. The poem is titled "Despair" by H. P. Lovecraft.
The piece that accompanies the scene of Eric preparing to confront Vincent at the opera house, and Vincent’s arrival there, is titled "Boadicea" by Enya. The historical figure Boadicea (also spelt Boudica), after whom the track is named, is a symbol of justice — a cause Eric is likewise fighting for in the film.
Out of respect for Brandon Lee and in light of the tragedy on the set of The Crow (1994), the film-makers prohibited real firearms on the set.
According to director Rupert Sanders, Eric Draven's look does not come from the James O'Barr comics that provided the source material, nor from the late actor Brandon Lee's interpretation in Alex Proyas' original film. Instead, Sanders says he fashioned the character around his leading man's natural features and by looking back at his own youth. "I think the beauty of Bill is that he has a disturbing beauty, and as he transforms through his loss he becomes this thing that even he cannot control," Sanders told Vanity Fair. "It is that famous line: 'Whoever fights monsters must be careful that they don't become one.' That look was me in the '90s when we were squat-raving in London, [mixed with some modern influences] like Post Malone and Lil Peep. I hope people who are 19 today look at him and go, 'That guy is us.'" Sanders added that the image is from "the moment we realise bad things are coming."
Whilst this is not a remake of The Crow (1994), there are a couple of similar shots that seem to be an homage to the first screen adaptation of the comic, such as Eric applying make-up while looking into a cracked mirror, and him being stabbed in the back with a sword during the opera scene.
In the finale, as Roeg is dragged down into Hell through a pool of water, he becomes encircled by numerous serpent-like creatures. The television series The Crow (1998) introduced the notion of a Snake — an evil counterpart to The Crow. Additionally, Shelly's return from the afterlife may have taken place in the series finale.
In one scene, a poster for the 1995 film Crying Freeman (1995) is visible on a wall. That picture starred Mark Dacascos. Dacascos later portrayed Eric Draven in the 1998 television adaptation The Crow: Stairway to Heaven (1998), which was loosely based on The Crow (1994).
Tony Todd, who portrayed Grange in the original film, posted a link to a critical review of the remake on his X (formerly Twitter) account, suggesting he concurred with its verdict.
The film is the second adaptation to be drawn specifically from James O'Barr's comic book series, 'The Crow'. However, contrary to popular belief, it is not a direct remake of Brandon Lee's film of the same title, The Crow (1994).
F. Javier Gutiérrez, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, Stephen Norrington and Corin Hardy were linked to helm the film at various stages of its development.
The film was released to mark the 30th anniversary of the original The Crow (1994).
This film is the second occasion a Skarsgård has portrayed a character whose transformation is accompanied by an Enya track used against type. Here, Bill Skarsgård truly becomes The Crow as Enya's "Boadicea" plays over the montage. In David Fincher's 2011 adaptation of Stieg Larsson's book "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo", Skarsgård's father Stellan is revealed to be the film's long-hidden murderer when he tortures Daniel Craig's character, Mikael, while listening to Enya's "Orinoco Flow".
Bill Skarsgård's make-up as The Crow bears a strong resemblance to his make-up as Pennywise in It (2017) and It: Chapter Two (2019).
With this film, Bill Skarsgård becomes the third actor to assume the role of Eric Draven/The Crow. The first was Brandon Lee, who played the character in The Crow (1994). The second was Mark Dacascos, who took on the role in the 1998 television series The Crow: Stairway to Heaven.
Development of the project commenced in 2008, with Stephen Norrington set to direct.
Darija Pavlovicova, who portrays the young pianist Gray, posted images on her Instagram account suggesting she filmed a number of later scenes in which Danny Huston was seen torturing her character, but those sequences were omitted from the final edit. The film leaves her fate unresolved.
In a 2024 interview with Fangoria, Rupert Sanders discussed filming the title sequence and some of the movie’s visual motifs. He said that there is something inherently cinematic about burying people in liquids. Bill Skarsgård was fantastic; they didn’t have the luxury of warm baths and were largely shooting through the night in Prague. Conditions were far from comfortable — they were pushed into shallow pools of water in an old, disused railyard — and the shoot had been gruelling: a lot achieved in a short time on a tight budget, filmed in just over thirty days compared with the ninety days Sanders spent on his first picture. The work was complex and everyone was exhausted. On the last day they had an agricultural trough full of black corn syrup. Sanders suggested a cheap but effective idea for the title sequence: with a high-speed camera on hand, would Bill get in and thrash about, punching and sending the black liquid flying? Bill agreed, climbed into a slightly chilly, bleak tub at the back of a soundstage and writhed at high frame-rate. That footage became a key moment in the title sequence and reappears later in the film. Much of the film deals with falling and sinking and how to separate those two realms in a way that feels organic rather than fanciful. Sanders wanted a visceral link between our world and the other; the liquid portal and the many veiled figures serve as a symbol of separation — you can’t touch them any more. A thin veil that divides them is an image that returns throughout the picture. At one point the character returns to the flat and kisses Shelly through a curtain: she seems present and then absent, with mannequins wrapped in plastic sheeting. There is a wealth of thematic imagery that viewers may begin to appreciate more on a second or third viewing — the film has considerable depth.
