Imagine a love so strong that it not only can survive beyond death, but bring a person back from the dead and with a fierce compulsion for revenge. That is, in essence, the central theme of The Crow — a popular comic book series that serves as the source material for an upcoming superhero movie, which is only the latest adaptation the comic has inspired so far. Let’s explore how this new interpretation may differ from previous iterations and other details about The Crow that have been revealed so far in our guide below.
What Is The Crow Release Date?
The reboot of The Crow is looking to be one of the upcoming 2024 movie schedule’s hottest summer tickets. The film is set to be released in theaters on August 23, 2024, by Lionsgate.
The reboot has actually been a long time coming, with multiple directors (including Stephen Norrington and Corin Hardy) and actors (such as Bradley Cooper and Jason Momoa) attached at one time or another since 2008, as the film stewed in development hell. According to The Prague Reporter, The Crow completed principal photography in September 2022, following a 10-week shoot in Czech Republic.
The Crow Trailer Teases A Brutal, Action-Packed Romantic Tragedy
A successful reboot offers something new to the franchise's legacy and the first official trailer for The Crow suggests we are getting an adaptation that is potentially bolder and undeniably bloodier than what has come before. The teaser shows a glimpse at the passionate love story at the center, the afterlife our anti-hero visits before he is sent back to punish his killers, and the visceral carnage that he experiences over and over again, thanks to his regenerative abilities. See for yourself by watching the clip below:
During the Lionsgate panel at CinemaCon 2024, attendees were treated to an extended (and even more violent and visceral) teaser for The Crow that CinemaBlend's Sean O'Connell likened to one of the first fights in 2016's Deadpool, but in a more earnest fashion. It also spent more time developing the relationship between the protagonist and his lover, whose death he also sets out to avenge.
Bill Skarsgård Leads The New Crow Cast
The undead titular hero of the original comic has been portrayed by multiple actors in the past. Check out who is joining that line-up, as well as the rest of the new Crow cast (most of whom are appearing in currently undisclosed roles) below.
Bill Skarsgård (Eric Draven/The Crow)
Years after Jason Momoa dropped out of a previous attempt to reboot The Crow, the role of Eric Draven would go to Bill Skarsgård, who is no stranger to putting on makeup and freaking people out, having starred in the 2017 adaptation of Stephen King’s It as Pennywise. This is the Swedish actor’s second comic book movie role, following his appearance in Deadpool 2 as Zeitgeist.
FKA Twigs (Shelly)
In the comic, Eric is brought back from the dead to avenge, not just his own death, but also that of his fiancée, Shelly, who will play a more significant role in the reboot than in the first film adaptation, according to THR. Portraying the character is British singer and dancer FKA Twigs, who made her acting debut in 2019’s Honey Boy.
Isabella Wei (Zadie)
A new character named Zadie (according to GQ) is being played Isabella Wei in her first feature-length credit. The Hong Kong-based actor made her debut in 2022 in Netflix’s 1899 cast as Ling Yi.
Danny Huston
Also starring in 2024’s The Crow cast is Danny Huston, who has lent his talents to such acclaimed films as Martin Scorsese’s The Aviator and TV shows like Yellowstone. It comes as no surprised to us that he is playing the central villain, following his sinister performances in films like the vampire movie favorite 30 Days of Night and in TV shows like American Horror Story Season 3 as the Axe Man, to name a few.
Laura Birn
Another The Crow cast member in an undisclosed role, but apparently a colleague of Huston's character, is Laura Birn. American audiences may recognize the Finnish actor from 2014’s A Walk Among the Tombstones, the supernatural Netflix series The Innocents, and Apple TV+’s acclaimed sci-fi drama, Foundation.
Sami Bouajila
French-Tunisian actor Sami Bouajila also stars in The Crow, supposedly as Eric's guide to the afterlife. Some of his most notable screen acting credits include director Rachid Bouchareb’s Days of Glory and Outside the Law — both of which were nominated for the Best Foreign Language Feature Oscar.
Jordan Bolger
Jordan Bolger made his acting debut as Isaiah Jesus on Peaky Blinders before appearing on The CW’s The 100 and, later, Disney+’s Star Wars TV show, The Book of Boba Fett. As for feature-length credits, he most notable starred in 2021’s Tom & Jerry and, the following year, appeared alongside Viola Davis in The Woman King.
What The Crow Is About
From what we can tell, the plot of Lionsgate's The Crow mirrors that of the comic book series, which was originally published by Caliber Comics in 1989, but has been under the IDW Publishing umbrella since 2012. It is the story of a man named Eric, who is murdered, along with his bride-to-be, Shelly, by a vicious gang.
One year later, a mystical black bird resurrects him with new abilities that he initially uses to punish those who took his life and his love, but later comes to the aid of others in need. The book is the most famous creation by comic book writer and artist James O’Barr who, according to an interview with Dike Blair, was inspired to develop the story as a means to cope with the death of his fiancée, who was killed by a drunk driver.
What Is The Crow Rated?
Much like the previous iterations, The Crow is rated R, which was not surprising, considering the bloody gore and brutal action revealed in the trailer. The MPA cited strong bloody violence, gore, language, sexuality/nudity, and drug use as the reasons for the rating.
Rupert Sanders Directs The Crow
At the helm of The Crow is Rupert Sanders, who described the film to Empire as "a very scrappy indie movie." He who got his start directing TV advertisements and music videos and later made his feature film debut in 2012 with Snow White and the Huntsman, which he followed up in 2017 with a live-action update of the hit anime, Ghost in the Shell, starring Scarlett Johannson. He previously worked with The Crow cast member Laura Birn when he directed the pilot episode of Foundation.
Credited with writing the screenplay are Zach Baylin and William Josef Schneider. Baylin earned an Oscar nomination for his screenwriting debut with 2021’s King Richard before going on to pen Creed III and Gran Turismo in 2023 and the 2024 music biopic, Bob Marley: One Love. The Crow marks the feature-length screenwriting debut for Schneider, who previously co-wrote a 2008 short film about tennis player Kai Hansen called 15-40, but also did some work on the upcoming video game adaptation, Return to Silent Hill.
Past Adaptations Of The Crow And How To Watch Them
As previously established, this upcoming film is only the latest adaptation of the comic that inspired it. Previously, there have four feature-length reinterpretations — the first being director Alex Proyas’ The Crow from 1994. The cult favorite (considered one of the best non-DC-or-Marvel-based comic book movies) stars Brandon Lee in his final acting role, as he was accidentally killed by a prop gun while filming Eric Draven’s death scene.
The critically acclaimed sleeper hit first spawned a sequel with 1996’s The Crow: City of Angels (starring Vincent Pérez as a new Crow named Ashe Corven), which was followed in 2000 by The Crow: Salvation (starring Eric Mabius and Kirsten Dunst), and, later, the Edward Furlong-led The Crow: Wicked Prayer in 2005. The franchise also spawned a much-forgotten TV spin-off series called The Crow: Stairway to Heaven, which sees Mark Dacascos take on the role of Eric Draven.
- Stream The Crow on Paramount+.
- Rent or buy The Crow: City of Angels on Amazon.
- Stream The Crow: Salvation on Tubi.
- Rent or buy The Crow: Wicked Prayer on Amazon.
- Buy The Crow: Stairway to Heaven on DVD on Amazon.
On a personal note, speaking as a fan of the original film and, especially, of Brandon Lee’s performance in it, I really do hope this reboot turns out well. The Crow is a story that deserves more attention and if this new film lives up to its predecessor and increases its purview, it might be worth bringing back to life after all.
