There are some movies that cement themselves in the public consciousness for reasons other than how well they perform in their reviews or at the box office. Back in 1994, one such movie arrived in cinemas following the death of its lead actor in an on-set accident. The sad history of the film’s production ensured that The Crow became a cult classic that, despite several poor sequels, would stand as a gothic tale of love and death that audiences would come back to again and again. In 2024, Lionsgate released a new iteration of The Crow, with Bill Skarsgård taking over original star Brandon Lee’s role as Eric, FKA twigs as Shelly Webster, and Danny Huston as the villain Vincent Roeg. The film was a box office and critical disaster, as it was unable spread its wings under the weight of 1994 movie’s legacy, but two years later it is finding some success on free streaming platform Tubi.
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The Crowfollows most of the same basic plot points of the Lee version but also made some big changes to the characters. In the new version Eric and Shelley are not the rock star couple of the original movie but a couple of teens who meet in rehab, fall in love, and go on the run from Shelley’s father. There is also a big change made to the movie’s villain, with the street-level crime boss being replaced with 100-year old aristocrat who has made a deal with the devil to be immortal, adding a clearly signposted supernatural feel to the movie. Then there is the central revenge plot, which in the new iteration only really comes into the movie half way through after the deaths of Eric and Shelley, while the first half of the film focuses on setting put the love story between the two characters. These changes did not go down well with many critics, who really could not see much merit in the remake at all.
The Crow Was Destined to be a Divisive Remake
Remaking any movie can cause a huge divide in opinion, but with the original leading to the death of Lee when he was accidentally shot on set, many were always going to give the new take a rough ride. That happened from the moment The Crow’s review embargo lifted. The Rotten Tomatoes score from critics instantly dropped to single figures with many jumping in to slam a “lifeless” and “pointless” remake. After several days, the film settled on a 22% Tomatometer score. Audiences were a little kinder, giving it a much higher 62% rating on the site, but mostly with the caveat that you needed to forget that the original movie existed and just treat it like a brand new thing you had never experiences before. Those who could do that seemed to be the ones that were more positive towards it, praising it for taking a slightly different direction and throwing in some memorable action set-pieces and gore for good measure.
None of that could stop the film from becoming a box office flop. In a completely serendipitous moment, the remake’s $50 million budget mirrored the box office haul of the original movie’s first theatrical run, while the budget of the 1994 movie (half that of the remake) became the global box office of the new movie. That result was enough to ensure that if there were any plans to build The Crow into a new franchise, they had their wings clipped there and then. Instead, many people waited until the inevitable quick streaming release to see how the new movie held up against the original, turning it from cinematic flop to streaming hit. Now, two years on, it seems that there are people who are still happy to check out The Crow when it lands on a new streaming platform, but whether they enjoy it seems to depend on their knowledge of Brandon Lee’s superior version.
Should The Crow have ever been remade? Let us know in the comments.
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