James O’Barr gives an update on the Luke Evans-starring The Crow reboot

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

It was just last week when producer Ed Pressman shared the news that the long buzzed-about reboot of James O'Barr's THE CROW could start production as soon as next spring, and now comics creator O'Barr has shared a few additional details about what we can expect from the Luke Evans-starring film.

Speaking with Korsgaard's Commentary, O'Barr shared that originally 'No one was more against a remake than I was' but a meeting with director Javier Guiterrez alleviated any issues he had with the reboot, stating…

He flew over from Spain – paid for his own flight – to talk to me. He got off the airplane, I took him to my car, and I was going to lecture him for an hour and then put him right back on the plane. I did give him the whole lecture too, no one wants this, no one wants to see a remake, that the original is sacred ground because it was Brandon Lee’s last film, that you’re committing career suicide by trying to remake that film.

I told him all of this, he listened to every word, and then he told me ‘I don’t want to remake that film, that film is perfect as it is. I want to do your book, literally page-for-page adaptation.’ That’s what changed by mind, that it’s not a remake of the original film, or cashing in on the cult status of Brandon Lee, it’s that Guiterrez wants to go back to the source material, which if you’ve read the book and seen the film, while the movie has the right feel and the right flavor of the book, probably only 40% of the book made it into the movie.

That got me intrigued – the idea of adapting it from page 1 and going from there, including a lot of the darker or stranger elements of the comic dropped from the original film.

O'Barr also stresses that they will not be 'remaking' Alex Proyas and Brandon Lee's THE CROW, but 'readapting' the graphic novel on which that film was based. Says O'Barr…

…we’re not remaking the movie, we’re readapting the book. My metaphor is that there is a Bela Lugosi Dracula and there’s a Francis Ford Coppola Dracula, they use the same material, but you still got two entirely different films. This one’s going to be closer to Taxi Driver or a John Woo film, and I think there’s room for both of them – part of the appeal of the Crow comics after all is that they can tell very different stories after all.

O'Barr also shares that he has been granted a lot of creative control on the film, and even shares a timeline of when production could start:

I said if you want me involved, this is what I need, I want control of the soundtrack, like with the first one, I want a voice on all the casting, and I want to be able to give my two cents on the script and the characters, and they agreed to everything. I think the studio understands that if they want a Crow ‘franchise’, they have to get it right. We’re hoping to begin production later this month, and start shooting in the spring.

What made the original film so great was the performance by Brandon Lee, who tragically died while shooting the film, as Eric Draven. James O'Barr continues by saying while Luke Evans will be playing Eric from the comic, he won't be playing Eric Draven.

If you read the comic, Eric and Shelley never have their last names revealed. Hopefully, this is one area the new movie being more faithful to the comic will come into play, and Eric won’t be going by Eric Draven in the new film. Luke Evans may play Eric, but Brandon Lee will forever be Eric Draven… No one understands that fear more than me. Brandon Lee was a friend and I’d never do anything to hurt his legacy.

It certainly sounds like they're headed in the right direction with this reboot of THE CROW, so all we can do is keep our fingers crossed that they deliver something equally as great as the original film. We'll keep you posted on news regarding the reboot as we hear it.