BrandonLee Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Last December, many Goths wept and fans of the late Brandon Lee took to message boards all over our great Internet to protest Stephen Norrington's remake of The Crow. News on the project has been so scarce that you've probably forgotten all about it, or even assumed it was dead and buried. But like its supernatural character, Norrington's Crow is alive and flying and Comics2Film is reporting that Norrington's script has been "very well received" by Relativity Media, and the film is set to go forward with casting. Cue the angry rants.

While the news sparked a lot of angry comments, there were a few fans of James O'Barr's graphic novel who wanted to see a new adaptation that might stay truer to the book. But earlier this summer, Comics2Film ran a rumor that Norrington wasn't going to use the character of Eric Draven, but was inventing a completely new character and storyline for his remake / reboot. Let me stress that little item hasn't been confirmed, but if it's true, it certainly raises the question of "Why bother?" O'Barr fans want their guiding crow and self-mutilation back.

At this point, all we know is that Norrington is aiming to make it "realistic, hard-edged and mysterious, almost documentary-style." Now that I've seen more of the graphic novel (thanks, Google Images), I can't think of a poorer approach to something so deliberately introspective. But who knows? If it's truly a whole new character who just happens to have a crow as a pal, the shaky-cam approach might work just fine.

[via Bloody-Disgusting]

Because of Heath Ledger's premature death and the uncertainty of what will now happen to the actor's unfinished final film, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, I've been thinking a lot about The Crow this week. Aside from the Joker/Crow connection from last April, I'm sure you recall that Brandon Lee died while filming that comic book adaptation, and some clever special effects had to be employed in order for the picture to be finished. Anyway, I really loved the film when it came out back in 1994, but I eventually let go of being its fan, partly because of the kids who were too obsessed with the title character (if you ever hung out at goth clubs, you know what I'm talking about) and ruined it for me, and partly because of the crappy film franchise that it spawned. But I've been thinking about revisiting the first installment, at least for nostalgic purposes.

I'm apparently not the only one thinking of revisiting The Crow, though others seem to have different reasons for looking back. According to actor Jason Statham, who talked about available comic book roles with IESB.net, there's talk in Hollywood of a remake. The action star seemed to say that if he was offered the part of Eric Draven (aka The Crow), then he would be quick to grab it (the actual quote: "So if that one comes my way, bang!"). He also mentioned taking a meeting to play Namor (aka Sub-Mariner), but wasn't so keen on wearing the green Speedo and ankle wings. He also expressed a desire to play the Hulk, though he points out that he's glad Edward Norton, his Italian Job co-star, is doing that one (The Incredible Hulk is being helmed by Louis Leterrier, Statham's director on the first two Transporter movies, by the way). But despite continuing on with three franchises with Crank 2: High Voltage, Transporter 3 and The Brazilian Job, the actor hopes he'll be able to one day snag a comic book part. Should it be The Crow? Or should there be a remake of The Crow (or new adaptation of James O'Barr's comics) at all?