Since the tragic death of Brandon Lee during production on THE CROW, we have had several mediocre sequels and a boring TV series. A major reboot has been in the planning stages for years and despite locking down Luke Evans as star, the film has lost multiple directors ranging from Stephen Norrington, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, and most recently Francisco Javier Gutiérrez. With Gutierrez dropping out to direct the next RING movie, producer Edward Pressman has been searching for someone to take over since production is slated to begin next year.
According to Deadline, the new director has been named with a little help coming from Edgar Wright. Wright recommended filmmaker Corin Hardy for the job based on his short film Butterfly (embedded below) and his music video work for artists such as Ed Sheeran, Keane, and The Prodigy. Hardy is set to release his feature directorial debut, THE HALLOW, next year. THE CROW would be his biggest project to date.
As someone who loves the James O’Barr comic book as well as the Alex Proyas movie, I am glad they are going with someone with a music video background to get the vibe of the character, but I am always hesitant when it is such an unproven filmmaker. I like Hardy more than any of those previously linked to THE CROW reboot, but that could be just because I didn’t like those other directors prior output. Time will tell if Hardy sticks with the film before cameras roll next year.