Original The Crow Director Alex Proyas Trolls “Cynical Cash-Grab” Reboot

The Crow (2024) tried to be a reboot that sparked renewed interest in the franchise – but after abysmal reviews and one of the worst box office openings of the year ($4.6 million on a $50 million budget), it’s pretty clear that’s not going to be the case. Now that The Crow has crashed and burned, it seems that there’s no shortage of people looking to kick the franchise while it is down bad – and that list includes the director of The Crow (1994), Alex Proyas, who is once again serving as a one-man trolling campaign against the reboot. 

In his latest social media posts, Proyas shared this mega-troll message with fans: “I thought the remake was a cynical cash-grab. Not much cash to grab it seems.” 

Besides sharing his snarky opinions, Proyas spent the opening weekend of The Crow’s (2024) release sharing negative fan reactions, review videos, and posts criticizing the reboot while simultaneously celebrating Proyas’ original film. One story that resonated with a lot of fans involved a Facebook post in which a fan talked about meeting another fan with an epic Crow movie arm tattoo and learning that same fan’s father used to help balance his ADHD as a young man by putting on The Crow (1994), which would settle him down. That fan’s father passed away, and the tattoo stands as a testament to their connection – as well as the legacy of original Crow star Brandon Lee, who lost his life while filming the movie. 

The point that Alex Proyas has been trying to convey over and over again is that his version of The Crow is more than just a movie: it’s an indelible marker of Brandon Lee’s legacy; a milestone marker of Generation X’s Gothic influences, and one of the earliest examples of how a low-budget genre film (like a comic book adaptation) could become a major franchise IP. It’s that latter point that Alex Proyas has always had a problem with – as he made clear when the first trailers for The Crow reboot were released: 

“I really don’t get any joy from seeing negativity about any fellow filmmaker’s work. And I’m certain the cast and crew really had all good intentions, as we all do on any film,” Proyas shared on his Facebook page while sharing an article about the film’s first trailer getting a “staggering” amount of dislikes on YouTube. “So it pains me to say any more on this topic, but I think the fan’s response speaks volumes. The Crow is not just a movie. Brandon Lee died making it, and it was finished as a testament to his lost brilliance and tragic loss. It is his legacy. That’s how it should remain.”

The Crow (2024) is now playing in theaters. The 1994 original is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.