“I thought the remake was a cynical cash-grab. Not much cash to grab it seems.” Despite all those scathing reviews, The Crow 2024’s harshest critic is the first film’s director
The director of 1994’s The Crow has torn into the reboot in a series of Facebook posts.
Alex Proyas, who helmed the first Crow which starred the late Brandon Lee, let his thoughts on the reimagining fly shortly after the review embargo lifted on Friday, August 23.
The new Crow was directed by Rupert Sanders (Snow White And The Huntsman, Ghost In The Shell) and replaces Lee in the Eric Draven / The Crow role with Bill Skarsgård (It). Lee died in an on-set accident while making the 1994 film, aged 28.
The reimagining has been on the receiving end of extremely negative press. It’s also bombing at the box office, having returned just $4.8 million of a $50 million production budget at time of publication.
First, Proyas posted a screenshot of a scathing one-star review of the new flick. The director posted a simple “🧐” emoji with the screencap, originally taken from The Guardian.
The same day, Proyas followed up with, “Wow. The reviews are brutal.”, again referencing The Crow’s critical backlash. On Sunday, August 25, he continued, posting a screenshot of a lengthy comment by a fan called Eric Ian, who praised the 1994 film and said, “This remake will quickly disappear.” Proyas responded, “This is exactly why we finished The Crow. Thank you Eric Ian for reminding me why Brandon’s legacy will live on.”
Proyas added in further posts, “Wow. Box office is a bloodbath.”, and, “I thought the remake was a cynical cash-grab. Not much cash to grab it seems.” He then posted links to a series of Youtube video reviews critical of the new film.
The first Crow film and its remake are both based on the 1989 comic series by James O’Barr. O’Barr wrote the story, about Draven returning as an undead avenger to murder those who killed him and his fiancée, to grieve following the passing of his partner. The art style was heavily inspired by such goth and punk artists as Bauhaus, Iggy Pop and Joy Division.
The Crow 1994 received positive reviews and became a cult classic shortly after release. Ville Valo, formerly of goth rock stars Him, explained his fascination with the film in a recent Metal Hammer interview.
“Eric was my hero,” he said. “The film happened right after grunge broke and was really grungy in a cool way. There were a few darker films, but I don’t think there was anything considered ‘gothic’ coming out of Hollywood at the time, and it had a bit of rock’n’roll. Eric was carrying a crow and a guitar.”
The remake has been in development since 2008, with multiple stars and directors attached during that time. Jason Momoa (Aquaman, Game Of Thrones) was at one point set to play the new Draven.
The Crow is in global cinemas now.