THE CROW Creator James O'Barr Offers More Details on New Movie
An in-depth interview with The Crow creator James O'Barr was recently released by Korsgaard Commentary, and it offers up some big updates on the remake that is currently in development.
A lot of fans of the original film aren't too happy with this new movie being made, but with O'Barr's involvement in bringing it to the big screen and Luke Evans playing the title role, I've kind of warmed up to the idea. One of the first things that O'Barr clarifies in the interview is that they are not remaking the first movie:
"[W]e're not remaking the movie. We're readapting the book. My metaphor is that there is a Bela Lugosi Dracula and there's a Francis Ford Coppola Dracula. They use the same material, but you still got two entirely different films. This one's going to be closer to Taxi Driver or a John Woo film, and I think there's room for both of them. Part of the appeal of The Crow comics, after all, is that they can tell very different stories."
O'Barr goes on to explain the differences between the Eric character that will be played by Evans, and the Eric Draven character played by Brandon Lee in the first movie.
"If you read the comic, Eric and Shelley never have their last names revealed. Hopefully, this is one area the new movie being more faithful to the comic will come into play, and Eric won't be going by Eric Draven in the new film. Luke Evans may play Eric, but Brandon Lee will forever be Eric Draven... [N]o one understands that fear more than me. Brandon Lee was a friend and I'd never do anything to hurt his legacy."
O'Barr then reveals that one of the requests he made before joining the film project was that he would have control over its soundtrack. This is the same deal that he made for the 1994 Alex Proyas-directed adaptation. So I guess we might see some similarities in that aspect.
"We're including some music I'd wanted to originally, but just couldn't get the rights to. Some actual Joy Division songs. Some vintage Cure songs. I'm still pretty active in the music industry, and there is a lot of neo-goth bands out there, that have that same sound, and I've talked to some of them about contributing, and they're very excited about it."
The creator of the comic has already seen Evans in the make-up for the character, and he has signed off on the look. It sounds like he really likes what they've done with it.
"I've seen him in the make-up, too, and he looks great... I think the studio understands that if they want a Crow ‘franchise,' they have to get it right. We're hoping to begin production later this month, and start shooting in the spring."
The movie is set to be directed by F. Javier Gutiérrez, and the more I hear O'Barr talk about the movie, the more open I am to the project. This new film could actually turn out really freakin' good.