‘It is Brandon Lee’s legacy. That’s how it should remain’
Alex Proyas, the director of the 1994 film The Crow, has shared his thoughts on the upcoming remake starring Bill Skarsgård and FKA twigs. The filmmaker took to Facebook in a now-deleted post to speak out against the reboot, which he claims detracts from the work of Brandon Lee, who played the lead protagonist in the original film before his untimely death on-set.
“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,” read the post. “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 reboot has been met with considerable backlash from fans ever since the first-look images and trailer dropped last month. Receiving over 50,000 dislikes on YouTube within the first day, most of the comments take issue with the Crow’s heavily tatted appearance, which is allegedly inspired by SoundCloud rappers like Lil Peep. “In the original, Eric looks like he plays guitar for Nine Inch Nails. In the reboot, Eric looks like he raps on SoundCloud,” says one user. “Why does the Crow look like Machine Gun Kelly dressed up like Florida Joker?” adds another.
In the original film, Brandon, the son of Bruce Lee, played the starring role of Eric Draven when he was tragically killed during a freak accident when a bullet got stuck in a prop gun and misfired into his stomach. Rupert Sanders, the director behind the upcoming remake, told Vanity Fair last month that he considers the film a tribute to Lee’s memory. “Brandon was an original voice, and I think he will always be synonymous with The Crow and I hope he’s proud of what we’ve done and how we’ve brought the story back again. His soul is very much alive in this film,” he said. “There’s a real fragility and beauty to his version of the Crow, and I think Bill feels like he is a successor to that.”
The Crow is due to hit screens on June 7, 2024. Watch the trailer below.