Alex Proyas, of the 1994 classic The Crow (watch it HERE), was never happy with the idea that Snow White and the Huntsman director Rupert Sanders was going to be telling a new version of the story of The Crow with his recently released reboot – and Proyas never kept his feelings about the project to himself, taking every opportunity to mock and bash it on social media. The Crow reboot made its way out into the world last weekend and is proving to be both a critical failure and a box office bomb, which is just giving Proyas more opportunities to have fun at the movie’s expense on social media.
In the build-up to the reboot’s release, Proyas shared a screen shot of The Guardian’s review, which called the film “unfathomably awful.” Later, he commented, “Wow. The reviews are brutal.” And when the box office numbers came in, revealing that the new The Crow had an opening weekend of just $4.6 million, Proyas said, “Box office is a bloodbath.” He added, “I thought the remake was a cynical cash-grab. Not much cash to grab it seems.” He and The Crow ’94 screenwriter David J. Schow both shared an image saying they had been “Marked safe from seeing Crow 2024 today.” Proyas then shared a link to a negative review of the reboot on YouTube, commenting, “I love how enraged this (reviewer) gets. Is that a “thumbs down”? Maybe they can lend their DCPs to film schools for classes on how NOT to make a movie? The theatres sure won’t need ’em after next weekend.” He ended with a laughing emoji. Sharing a negative review in Spanish, Proyas asked, ““Gigantesque Insulte!”? Is that good?” Again with a laughing emoji. In his most recent post, he shared a review that called the reboot the worst movie of the year and said, “The review we’ve all been waiting for. It’s a bit like flogging a dead horse now so I think I’ll stop after this… until another funny one comes along!” So it’s safe to say that Proyas is really enjoying the reboot’s failure.
We had previously been referring to this project as a remake, but Lionsgate recently let it be known that this is not to be called a remake, but rather a new adaptation of the source material, the comic book series created by James O’Barr. Sanders directed this version of The Crow from a screenplay by Oscar nominee Zach Baylin (King Richard). The film is produced by Victor Hadida, Molly Hassell, John Jencks, and Edward R. Pressman. Dan Farah serves as executive producer. Here’s the synopsis: Soulmates Eric (Bill Skarsgard) 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.
Bill Skarsgard (Boy Kills World) and singer FKA Twigs are joined in the cast by Danny Huston (Yellowstone), who plays the lead villain, as well as David Bowles (Brothers), Isabella Wei (1899), Laura Birn (A Walk Among the Tombstones), Sami Bouajila (The Bouncer), and Jordan Bolger (Peaky Blinders).
Based on the comic book series created by James O’Barr, the first version of The Crow was released in 1994. Following the production of three sequels (each about a different resurrected character), a redux was first announced in late 2008… then it had to make a long journey through development hell. Several screenwriters came and went, scripts were written and scrapped, studios went bankrupt, and directors like Stephen Norrington, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, Corin Hardy, and Francisco Javier Gutiérrez were all involved along the way. Actors up for the lead role during the long development period included Bradley Cooper, Mark Wahlberg, Tom Hiddleston, Luke Evans, Jason Momoa, and Jack Huston.
What do you think about Alex Proyas celebrating the failure of the new The Crow? Let us know by leaving a comment below.