It's probably fair to say that there hasn't been a lot of positivity surrounding Lionsgate's upcoming reboot of The Crow.
Fans of the '90s film starring Brandon Lee weren't exactly enthusiastic about the prospect of a new take on James O'Barr's acclaimed graphic novel before the first trailer and stills dropped, and the backlash only intensified when we got a first look at Bill Skarsgård in action as Eric Draven.
Now, a first reaction to the movie has been shared online by Warrior writer Cliff Dorfman, who actually tagged the studio after catching an early screening. Dorfman clearly thought better of it and deleted the post shortly after, but not quickly enough!
"If hypothetically, one happened to see a screening of @TheCrow_Movie #thecrow which @Lionsgate is releasing in August, one might say, it’s horrible, it’s unwatchable, don’t waste your money, or can’t believe it’s so much worse than the original. It is. And don’t."
Yikes!
It might be worth noting that Dorfman penned the screenplay for an earlier version of The Crow that was going to be directed by F. Javier Gutierrez, so his opinion may not be completely unbiased. Even so, it's difficult to imagine too many fans being overly surprised by this verdict.
Check out a new look at Draven below via Bloody Disgusting.
Alex Proyas, who helmed the original film, has previously shared his not-so enthusiastic thoughts on the remake, and returned to social media earlier this year to comment on the trailer receiving over 50,000 dislikes on YouTube after being online for one day (that number has since risen to over 88,000).
"I really don't get any joy from seeing negativity about any fellow filmmaker's work," the director began. "And I'm certain the cast and crew really had all good intentions, as we all do on any film. So it pains me to say any more on this topic, but I think the fan's response speaks volumes. THE CROW is not just a movie. Brandon Lee died making it, and it was finished as a testament to his lost brilliance and tragic loss. It is his legacy. That's how it should remain. The sheer amount of dislikes on The Crow remake's trailer might be a bad sign for how the movie will perform."
The synopsis reads: "Soulmates Eric Draven (Skarsgård) and Shelly Webster (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."
The movie will also star Danny Huston, Laura Birn, Sami Bouajila, and Jordan Bolger in undisclosed roles. Zach Baylin and Will Schneider penned the script.
The new take on The Crow will hit theaters on August 23, 2024.