muvee-stars: Alex Tse Rewriting 'The Crow'

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Alex Tse Rewriting 'The Crow'

Courts recently decided that Relativity Media has the Crow remake production rights that the company had claimed, much to the consternation of The Weinstein Company, which was trying to claim ownership of worldwide ownership of The Crow.

So the remake that has Bradley Cooper attached to star and Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (28 Weeks Later) set to direct is now moving forward. Once upon a time, when Stephen Norrington was going to direct, the script in play was by Nick Cave — a seriously tantalizing prospect. Now Alex Tse, who co-wrote Watchmen for Zack Snyder, will write a new version.

Variety says this is expected to be "a gritty reboot" of the story based on James O'Barr's comics, in which Eric Draven, originally played by the late Brandon Lee, is murdered alongside his girlfriend, but finds himself mysteriously walking the earth once more, in search of vengeance against the killers. Relativity also uses the word 'reinvention' very prominently in conjunction with the project.

I rewatched The Crow over the weekend when I noticed it was streaming on Netflix; I don't think I'd seen it since it originally opened in 1994. I was surprised to recall that, while the subject matter and main character are often earnestly emo enough that I wanted to cringe back behind the couch, The Crow is also a good-looking film that is often shot well and uses style in a manner that is very appropriate for the story, but not quite overbearing. And Brandon Lee's charisma can't be argued. He made some of the script play better than it might have otherwise.

The idea of Nick Cave writing the script is still something I'd love to see followed-up on, as he seems like the ideal guy to manage that earnest, emo tone in a better way while pushing the action and atmosphere that worked in the original. With this rewrite I don't know what to expect, frankly.