The Crow Reboot Is Still Happening

By Daniel Kelly / August 18, 2015

The phrase "development hell" is tossed around a lot these days, but few films know the meaning of it better than the long-mooted reboot of The Crow. The project, which has been percolating under various creative gazes for almost a decade now, and has seen several high-profile actors come and go (Mark Wahlberg, Bradley Cooper and Luke Evans were all at one time attached), hit a new stumbling block with the disintegration of its financier Relativity. This still hasn't dissuaded the character's original creator James O'Barr though, who feels the reboot is still healthy. Talking as part of a panel at the Twin Tiers Comic-Con in New York, O'Barr had this to say:

"It€™s still very much a live property. The company, Pressman Films, that owns The Crow film and TV rights, licensed it to a studio named Relativity. And Relativity made like a hundred bad movies and lost money so now they€™re in financial trouble. So the producers are just going to take it to another studio if Relativity can€™t get backing again. It€™s going to happen."

O'Barr confidently explained that on the day of Relativity's bad fortune, several big industry names came inquiring about the rights. That does sound promising and it's probably in the film's best interest to commence a new lease of life elsewhere. The Relativity iteration has been stagnantly plodding away for years, so getting some fresh eyes on the project should help accelerate its development.The Crow originally appeared in comic-book form in 1989 and cemented his position as a known pop-cultural quantity thanks to Alex Proyas' stylish 1994 adaptation of the material. The comics and the film are known for their unrelenting, often violent edge, and so whoever does eventually nab the rights would do well to diffuse any talks of a PG-13 version immediately. The Crow's a tortured soul in a diseased metropolis, and that's the only way to play it. Obviously there's no release in place, or talent attached. If I had to cast the titular role right now, I'd probably lump for Tom Hiddleston or Jack O'Connell. How about you guys? Let us know in the comments below.