A man best known for his music talents; with numerous soundtrack contributions including The Assassination of Jesse James, Hellboy, Dumb & Dumber, and Batman Forever (which apparently only took twenty minutes to complete); Nick Cave was listed as one of the ten most promising screenwriters of 2006 by Variety Magazine (after writing his impressive screenplay for The Proposition), and has reportedly been hired to rewrite the remake of The Crow.
Adapted from James O’Barr’s comic-book series, the first Crow movie was released in 1994, and is unfortunately best remembered for being the setting for the death of the film’s star; Brandon Lee (son of the late Bruce Lee); rather than being the excellent supernatural revenge/action flick it is.
Since then a TV series (subtitled Stairway to Heaven) has been produced, and was better received than the three movie sequels that have been developed; all of which lacked the spirit, style, and substance of the original, and received less than favourable reviews; but now The Crow is getting the full reboot treatment, courtesy of Stephen Norrington.
Norrington clearly has the ability to direct an exciting and stylish picture that would suit the world of Eric Draven (The Crow); who comes back from the dead to avenge the murder of himself and his fiancee; as he previously directed 1998’s Blade (another supernatural gothic/action/horror, comic-book adaptation, that shows he’s not frightened of taking an already established world, and bringing it up-to-date in a fresh and exciting way), and has written a script for The Crow that up until now, was described as “terrific.”
But despite the ringing endorsements from everyone that had read it, producer Ed Pressman clearly felt that involving Nick Cave would benefit the script (particularly as there are some modern-day Western elements to the remake); a script that Pressman says makes the crow itself “a character in this movie; not just a bird. It’s got a personality, and a more active role in the story.”
The remake will also appear very visually different to the 1994 original, as Avatar production designer Rob Stromberg has designed a world that is reportedly very unlike anything that has gone before, and stays much closer to James O’Barr’s original comics.
There’s no official word on a lead actor (or any cast member for that matter), but it was reported nearly two months ago that an offer went out to someone that Pressman describes as “a major actor”, and as such an announcement should be expected to be made within the next few weeks; particularly as filming is due to start later this year, for a theatrical release sometime next year.
