They’re remaking The Crow with Bradley Cooper to star – is nothing sacred?

actors died young 230108
I vividly remember going to see The Crow on the day it came out in 1994. I was in college and the first show at 8:00 was sold out so we bought tickets to the next one at 10:00 or so, went out to a bar and waited around until we could watch it. A girlfriend of mine was obsessed with Lee and saw it several times in the theater and I’m pretty sure I went to see it again with her. I couldn’t tell you too much about the plot without consulting Wiki because I haven’t watched it since, but even back then the lore of Brandon Lee’s death while making the film was the stuff of legend. You couldn’t make up a sadder and more ironic story of how Lee was killed accidentally during a scene where his character is shot.

So you would think that The Crow would remain as a tribute to Lee (sequels aside) and that no one would dare to disrespect his memory by churning out a pale remake, but you would be wrong. The movie is being remade and Bradley “the milk ain’t clean” Cooper is set to star, according to E!. This angers me on many levels, and I lost touch with that girlfriend in college but I know her 20 year-old self is throwing stuff against the wall and listening to Joy Division loud enough for her dad to bang on the ceiling.

Interesting footsteps for Bradley Cooper to want to follow in.

A source confirms to E! News that the Limitless star is in talks to star in a remake of the 1994 revenge thriller The Crow, based on a cult-favorite comic book series but sadly far more notable for the fact that 28-year-old star Brandon Lee was killed during filming.

The story centers on a rock musician who is murdered along with his fiancée and, through supernatural forces, comes back to life to dispatch the evildoers in increasingly creative ways.

Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (28 Weeks Later) is on board to direct.

A critical and box-office hit that featured some fierce performances, the 1994 original would have been a gut-wrencher even without the back story: Lee died on The Crow’s North Carolina set in 1993 when a blank cartridge was fired in his direction and a piece of bullet somehow flew out along with it, hitting him in the abdomen. The fragment lodged in his spine and he died of his injuries at a nearby hospital.

Director Alex Proyas had to rewrite various scenes that hadn’t been completed yet and had to ramp up the special effects to place Lee in the posthumously shot scenes.

Two uneventful sequels were made and, it goes without saying, we hope to not hear one word from the set of the remake until the entire movie is in the can.

[From E! Online]

This is why people hate Hollywood. It’s douche moves like this that make the entire industry seem like those zombies that are so popular now. With all the awesome supernatural books, comics and surely screenplays out there you would think that someone would greenlight a new concept that also has the potential to make bank at the box office. Why bother when all they have to do is copy something that’s already been done? It doesn’t even matter if the lead actor was killed on set. Why don’t they remake Poltergeist? Like not a sequel, the original one? The soulless people who make films don’t seem to give a sh*t if a film has bad mojo as long as they make some cash.

Crow photo from BrandonLee.eu. Other photos credit: WENN. Cooper is shown on Spanish television on 3/31/11

brandon_lee_the_crow

bradleycooper1

wenn3276793

wenn3276795

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

68 Responses to “They’re remaking The Crow with Bradley Cooper to star – is nothing sacred?”

Comments are Closed

We close comments on older posts to fight comment spam.

  1. devilgirl says:

    NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

    JUST NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

    I had the biggest crush on Brandon Lee. This is just blasphemous!

  2. Quest says:

    Please don’t let this be true. Don’t do it.

  3. scotchy says:

    i hate hollywood, why can’t they just leave things alone, or at least support an original idea once in a while? aarrrggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

  4. devilgirl says:

    I am really pissed by this. There is no need to remake The Crow. Do a sequel, or hey, NOTHING AT ALL!

    I think Cooper is the most ridiculous choice to play Eric Draven they could have found. He is nothing like the character is supposed to be, and WHAT martial arts credentials does he have? Seriously, WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  5. Carrie says:

    FFS!!! Really…..WHY!!!?

  6. Katie says:

    I have never even seen The Crow, and I love Bradley Cooper, but I still feel like this is wrong.

  7. Mae says:

    One of my fave films of all time.

    It is un-touchable, I mean the soundtrack alone was amazing.

    For shame.

  8. Eve says:

    Why don’t they remake Poltergeist?

    Ironically, they’re probably actually thinking about doing that right now (or have been thinking for a while). Recently, I was talking to a friend about who could play android Roy in a hypothetical remake of Blade Runner and he quickly interrupted me with this: “Shhhhh, shhhh, stop it right now! If you say that out loud they may actually do this!”.

    I’m still pissed off that An American Werewolf in London is going to be remade, for reasons that are beyond me.

  9. peridot says:

    please no. what a bad idea.

  10. Micki says:

    Uhh, first Jenifer Gardner as Miss Marple and now this…I’m getting such a mental indigestion it simply hurts.

  11. Hollowdoll says:

    WTF?! I don’t even know why they would even think of BC for that role. He would ruin it. He is not capable of portraying the angst the role requires. That said it should not be remade. aaarrrggghhh! This is why I rarely go to the movies any more. I’m surprised they didn’t pick Will Smith’s son for the role. so frustrating. They should just re-release the original and make it 3-D or something.

  12. MikeyAngel says:

    This is all kinds of wrong, but if they are going to do it they should use Cillian Murphy, not Bradley Cooper! I honestly thought that was Cillian in the header pic. A little weight and he would be spot on.

  13. Samigirl says:

    I cosign with Devilgirl. Forgot how beautiful Brandon was. This is hateful. Uch.

  14. Hmmm says:

    What the hell are the Hollywood “writers” getting paid for? Plagerizing other writers’ stuff? This is insane and why I haven’t seen any of the “new” old stuff they have been churning out. I refuse to see today’s crop of crap actors re-hash the old classic stuff I loved. Just another example of not leaving well enough alone.

  15. Addie says:

    I agree with everyone who says WTF for.

    If they REALLY want to remake it, cant they have the main character (not BC) be an offspring who basically ” takes over the family business”

    Why does it have to be the EXACT person.
    Hollywood is a sad place with no
    originality any more.

  16. Melanie says:

    This will be a HUGE freaking flop. Cooper breaks my gaydar! Gah. Also, he better not get the Gatsby role either.

  17. Tanya says:

    Oh, FFS!

    I just can’t w/ any of this Hollyweird bullroar anymore… BCoop? Really?

    Leave well enough alone…

  18. someone says:

    Brandon Lee will forever be known as The Crow..I loved that movie. No one else could ever do it justice, but Hollywood loves to remake the classics..Bradley Cooper??? did he take a couple of karate lessons???

  19. Eve says:

    They should just re-release the original and make it 3-D or something.

    @ Hollowdoll:

    Yup. I was really happy when I had the opportunity to watch The Exorcist in the theater — had only seen it before on TV in 1995, I think — back when it was re-released with a restored version in 2000. When a movie becomes a timeless classic, that’s what should be done.

  20. Shay says:

    Brandon Lee IS The Crow.
    Honestly, this Bradley Cooper is the king of mediocre. I’m amazed he is in anything. He is the male equivalent of Jennifer Aniston: BORING.
    Seriously, who did Bradley Cooper have to blow to get acting jobs?

  21. Cherry Rose says:

    Terrible idea. The Crow is an example of a great movie that has withstood time. There’s no need to remake it.

  22. claire says:

    First Jeff Buckley than this.

    BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH.

  23. serena says:

    What the fuck.
    I’m so angry. Bradley Cooper?? REALLY? Are you joking me???????? Leave Lee alone and the movie too.

  24. seVen says:

    Oh hell no! The Crow is my favorite movie of all time and now they’re committing this act of fuckery? This just ruined my entire year 🙁

  25. GrnMtGirl says:

    This is most Wrong!!!

    RIP Brandon

  26. The H says:

    Oh, COME ON!! For REALS???!!!

  27. Sigh. says:

    Remember when HW took chances on UNKNOWN actors and ORIGINAL scripts (or at least adaptations of original stuffs)? When ideas came from writers, not studio execs looking for a hot marketing/soundtrack tie-in? Yeah, they don’t either.

    I’m biased because I have YET to see the “draw” to BC, a tabloid darling of late. He is so interchangeable (dull?) to me, little to no screen presence. And I’m assuming HW is all up his ass right now because his mediocre movie made slightly more money than the other mediocre movies released at the same time. Other than that, I still don’t get it…

    If they INSIST on doing this, they need a relative UNKNOWN actor. Or at least a more interesting one, IMHO.

  28. mln76 says:

    It’s really not a good idea to remake this movie eventhough the premise of the story is that any person can become the Crow so technically a sequel/or remake is built in to the ‘Crowverse’ but getting past the sacrilege Bradley Cooper is way too old and not dark enough for the part.

  29. Courtney says:

    Them remaking this show would just be plain out horrible!!! Don’t mess up such a beautiful classic and original like The Crow! RIP Brandon Lee.. so many of us people still love and miss you!!

  30. Leek says:

    Uuugh…first of all NO, secondly, I will never understand his appeal.

    Hollywood is just a bunch of drama nerds with no original ideas. They are just celebrating fame and fortune while churning out one piece of shit after another.

  31. amanda says:

    No offense to Brandon Lee but it wasn’t a good movie. It’s not like they are peeing on the mona lisa.

  32. RHONYC says:

    he sucked in ‘midnight meat train’.

    this guy is funny…NOT dark lead material. can someone get a f*cking clue already!

    🙁

  33. RHONYC says:

    @ amanda

    BITE YOUR TONGUE!

    we all wanted brandon to ravish us in the graveyard!

    he was pure poetry…you say it!

    ok, maybe it was just me. 😆

  34. Shannon says:

    This movie should never be remade. If they want to remake a movie with a “Lee” then they should remake “Enter the Dragon”. That’s a better remake. Leave “The Crow” alone. It does not need a remake.

    🙁

  35. someone says:

    You may have not liked it Amanda, and thats fine, but a lot of people did, including me..its a classic..

  36. Toe says:

    @ Amanda
    C’mon…i loooved that movie, the sadness/darkness of it.

  37. devilgirl says:

    @Amanda- in your opinion, it wasn’t a good movie.

    No one said it was the Mona Lisa, but out of the many movies made from comic book characters, it is one of the better ones.

  38. Lala11_7 says:

    Okay…

    Another “Crow” movie can be made, it dosen’t even have to be a remake of the original because based on the graphic novel…”The Crow” was different people…

    That being said…the actor who would step into that role, would need to embody a dark pathos that can jump off of the screen…not to mention a physicality that will be outstanding…

    That my dear people…IS NOT BRADLEY COOPER!!! (aka Matthew McConaughey extra lite)

  39. Bam Bam says:

    Nothing can touch the original, this will fail because they obviously have clue as to why the original was a success and a cult classic. Brad is cute, but it would take an exceptionally charismatic talent to even get me to look at even a trailer and that ain’t Brad. Shame on them! Hail to the legend that is Brandon!

  40. KattyKat says:

    I was in college at the time too and honestly the Crow means nothing to me.

    I really don’t get why Cooper would want to do this. I didn’t think it was all that interesting the first time around but I know it’s like the cinematic equivalent of Nirvana to some of my peers – as Cooper was 19 at the time, that comment includes him.

    I would get why someone starting out would want to do this but Cooper?

    Not to mention as a peer of mine and our esteemed writer isn’t *ahem*too old*ahem*.

  41. KattyKat says:

    @Amanda – thank goodness someone else didn’t love it. I didn’t hate it. It just wasn’t memorable. I couldn’t tell you one thing about it. I only went to see it because the lead was decked out like a rocker boy. I like rocker boys.

    I <3 Bradley Cooper but I DO NOT see him as a “rocker boy” or a “boy” for that matter. He’s 36. He’s no longer a boy.

    @min76 – very well said I never cared one way or another about Brandon Lee and dying young doesn’t make one a legend but I love my angsty 90s boys and Cooper while hot it not Trent Reznor who is no longer hot (what happened to his neck) but still rocks my world.

  42. Eleonor says:

    NO. Hell NO.
    I loved The Crow, and the soundtrack was amazing there were Cure,a Joy Division’s cover made by Nine Inch Nails, The Stone Temple Pilots..
    And there was Brandon Lee who was perfect in that role, how sad he’s dead.

  43. KY says:

    I love Cooper but this casting is weird.

  44. randomness says:

    You wouldn’t remake a Batman with the Joker because of Heath. Why would you do this?
    Don’t do it Cooper!!!

  45. Patrol says:

    Nothing against Cooper, but he’s not edgy. Unless Eric Draven is coming back as someone who wears Armani clothing and is a Coldplay style rocker, this is a failure.

  46. Solveig says:

    claire:
    April 13th, 2011 at 9:43 am

    First Jeff Buckley than this.

    BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH.

    ___________

    Exactly.

    I’m really starting to hate HW and all the BS surrounding it.
    There’s no respect for the memory of any of its stars or the work of the other artists. Just remakes of this and that, and usually those remakes are awful copies of the original.
    Sodding idiots.

  47. Amandahugandkiss says:

    I am more pissed off with Cooper for partaking in this. He is formerly kicked out of Generation X.

    The Crow was one of the two films that affected me so much that I had to sit on the kerb outside the multiplex and simply process how awesome it was. Such a beautiful film. Love overcomes all- even death. And Brandon Lee was incredible. So was the little girl- what’s she up to now?

  48. anti says:

    EFF that. seriously… it hasn’t been very long at all… i agree with @amandaH&K/#48.

    i can relate to your friend. the 1994 me is super offended at this. that movie really captured that time for me. everything about it was just perfect and self contained. it’ brandon lee’s goodbye too and i just can’t say enough that it’s complete and just should not be messed with. regardless, it’s just really, really too soon and seems tasteless. : (

  49. Eloisa says:

    Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!

    The Crow was perfect, so dark, with a great Brandon Lee and an incredible soundtrack. I love that movie, it was art!!!!

    What happen to Hollywood? to much to ask for a little creativity? Why it needs to make remakes? First was Millenium, that original Swedish version is perfect, then that Miss Mrple Disney crap version and now this???? Thats why european and latin films are getting more viewers every day.

  50. Mrs K says:

    This will be as good as 3D Cleopatra.

  51. Ari says:

    n.o.

  52. Cleo says:

    As hybrids go, Ron Darling is way cuter than Brandon Lee. Sometimes I wonder like now if Brandon was actually Bruce Lee’s kid or if Bruce was really married to Linda. Maybe Bruce isn’t really dead and married to his one and only wife and raising their kids.

    Like Elvis.

  53. gaugustaus says:

    I was 12 when the movie came out so I wasn’t able to see it until it came out on pay-per-view. I ordered the 24 hour rental, without telling my Mom, and watched it over and over and over. I was, & still am, in love with this movie. Lee was beautiful and fueled my love of pretty goth boys. This breaks my heart that an attempt would be made to remake this movie.

    I won’t watch it. Not even out of curiosity.

  54. Amanda G says:

    I love Bradley Cooper, but this is a horrible idea.

  55. wemmz says:

    I, for one, like Bradley Cooper and think this is an excellent chance for him to do something different, he’s becoming really diverse.
    And I think we should stop bitching and maybe see it is a tribute, not a slap in the face.
    Brandon Lee IS The Crow, but millions of legendary characters have changed over the years. Batman, James Bond, Spiderman – give them a chance, please? Give HIM a chance, please !

  56. Blank says:

    wemmz: Nope, can’t do it.

    I feel like hollywood just does not understand what made these movies so great in the first place.

  57. xxodettexx says:

    NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

    dammit, hollywood is ruining classics left and right!!!

    [edited to add: i was in jr high when it came out and i still remember sneaking into the theaters to watch it with my bestie, who i am still besties with! and i agree, i am sure she is throwing shoes and spitting at her computer screen as we speak! seriously such sacrilege]

  58. dubdub2000 says:

    First question: why?

    I’m so tired of all these remakes, don’t they have writers anymore with fresh ideas? Come on!

    + I think it would be a very bad idea for Cooper to even touch this. He is to me a second rate Mathew Mcconaughey (sp?) not as hot and just the same 1 note acting in ALL his movies. Just stick to rom coms or just pure comedy, seriously….

  59. Camille says:

    This is effing unbelievable! For starters casting BC is just wrong on many levels, acting ability and looks being the main culprits ie: he’s not very talented and he looks like a rodent.
    HW needs to stop making ‘remakes’ and they also need to stop pushing BC as a leading man, he doesn’t have the charisma or the looks for it IMO.

    Oh, oh wait, if they were remaking a movie about a Ratman though- then they could totally cast Bradley! I definitely buy him as a big old rat. Yuck.

  60. I Choose Me says:

    Why the f*ckity-f*ck is Hollywood remaking everything? ARGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

  61. MaudeLebowski says:

    I loved Brandon Lee and that movie. It was perfect and no remake could improve upon it, but it really REALLY would be stupid to cast Bradley Cooper. He is completely WRONG. Blech.

  62. Heather says:

    Well, this is random. D:

  63. harfang says:

    That does it. I’m officially old.

  64. JenJen says:

    WTH? The old, worn out Crow?

  65. JustMe says:

    *Head meets desk repeatedly* Seriously?! I remember seeing this movie on TV and thinking “What is THIS?!”. Unfortunatly, it was about halfway over when I turned it on. I remember INSTANTLY falling in love with Brandon Lee, and when his charachter got stabbed with that sword near the end, I burst into tears. A few months later I forced my Dad to rent it (I grew up in a pretty sheltered home and my parents didn’t really want me watching movies like that and every time someone swore or commited some act of violence, I ended up flinching, mostly because I thought my Dad would turn it off LOL!) but by the end of the movie, I was in tears once again and my Dad actually liked the movie. To this day, The Crow makes me bawl, and the comic book series (which I own) makes me cry even harder. There is no way in hell BC is gonna fit this role. Sorry dude.

  66. Tbone says:

    They make them because people pay to see them. The only way to stop this crap is for people to stand up and say no, We are not going to see Bradley Cooper play The Crow and completely and utterly disrespect the memory of Brandon Lee.

  67. Forelithe says:

    No.