Expectations have not been high for The Crow, Lionsgate’s reimagining of the 1994 cult classic of the same name, and the early reviews for the film reflect that exact notion. The first reviews for director Rupert Sanders’ reboot, which stars Bill Skarsgård in the role made famous by the late Brandon Lee, started roll in on Thursday evening, at the same time that The Crow was hitting theaters across the country. That kind of timing is never a good sign.
So far, the reviews haven’t been too kind on The Crow. As of Thursday night, 24 reviews had been submitted to Rotten Tomatoes and only a small handful of them were positive, giving The Crow a paltry 13% score. That’s better than last weekend’s Borderlands bomb, but still one of the worst-reviewed major releases of the year so far.
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There has been very little buzz for The Crow leading up to its release, and it’s projected to deliver a pretty dismal total at the box office this weekend. The Crow is only expected to make between $6 million and $9 million in North America this weekend.
1994’s The Crow still remains a strong presence in the minds of fans, having gained a massive following over the years for its one-of-a-kind aesthetic and Lee’s striking performance. For its 30th anniversary, Paramount delivered a 4K restoration of the movie that received widespread acclaim, so its legacy is still fresh in everyone’s minds.
Unfortunately, The Crow is also remembered for being the movie that caused the death of Brandon Lee, who was set to use the role of Eric Draven as a springboard to the next level of his career. An accident with a gun on-set resulted in tragedy, and Lee was killed before the entire production was complete. That did lead to many changes on Hollywood sets as far as guns are concerned. The 2024 edition of The Crow banned them from the production entirely.
er the synopsis, “Soulmates Eric (Bill Skarsgård) and Shelly (FKA twigs) are brutally murdered when the demons of her dark past catch up with them. Given the chance to save his true love by sacrificing himself, Eric sets out to seek merciless revenge on their killers, traversing the worlds of the living and the dead to put the wrong things right.”
The Crow (2024) also stars Josette Simon (Anatomy of a Scandal), Sami Bouajila as the spirit of Kronos, with Isabella Wei and Jordan Bolger also appearing in the film. Rupert Sanders is directing from a script by Zach Baylin (King Richard, Creed III, Bob Marley: One Love) and newcomer William Schneider. The film is based on the comic of the same name created by James O’Barr.
