source: Miramax
source: Miramax

The '90s cult classic The Crow is getting the adept old Hollywood remake treatment with Boardwalk Empire actor and fast-ascent star Jack Huston signed on to star in the role originated by the tardily Brandon Lee, Deadline has reported. The Hallow director Corin Hardy has signed on to direct the remake. The original was based on a graphic novel of the same title and gained cult favorite status for its gloomy material, hard stone soundtrack, and the creepy and sad story of Lee's accidental death on set up. The Crow is gothic camp at its best, and it's highly uncertain how a remake will go on that special vibe that made The Crow a cult classic in the showtime place.

Huston is best known for his office on Boardwalk Empire playing a mobster and assassin who was facially disfigured while fighting in Globe War I. After receiving rave reviews for that part, he landed the starring role in the upcoming remake of the Biblical epic and Hollywood classic Ben-Hur. Huston has now nabbed the starring roles in two highly anticipated, admitting very different, upcoming remakes.

Information technology'due south always tempting to complain about the endless factory of Hollywood remakes and reboots, merely with cult classics a do-over seems fifty-fifty more pointless and probable to fail than something like Ben-Hur. Recapturing the cult appeal of a flick like The Crow is almost incommunicable. It takes much more than rebuilding the imposing sets of (literally) Biblical proportions for something like Ben-Hur. Specially since the movie is so heavily informed past the accident that acquired Lee's death on the cusp of a promising career, information technology'south hard to foresee how they volition pull off a successful remake of this i.

The Crow is about a promising young stone musician named Eric Draven living in Detroit with his fiancee. Together they attempt to ameliorate their rough neighborhood, which isn't appreciated by a local gang. During their annual Devil's Night crime spree, the gang rapes the fiancee and kills them both. A year later, with the assistance of a supernatural crow Draven rises from the grave, dons actually goth-y makeup, and seeks revenge on his and his lover's killers.

Lee was infamously shot and killed during filming when the crew hadn't prepared the dummy cartridges in the firearms the actors were using properly. The incident happened while filming a scene in which his graphic symbol is shot after walking into his apartment and discovering the gang members there attacking his fiancee. A dummy round was accidentally left in the gun butt and when the revolver was fired it hitting Lee in the belly with the aforementioned force as an actual round would take. He was rushed to the hospital but died later half-dozen hours of surgery attempting to save him.

The studio made the controversial decision to stop and release the motion picture, as Lee only had iii days worth of shooting left to consummate. It got decent reviews, which compared it to the Batman series and Bract Runner, and was a financial success also, making over $fifty million at the box office to become one of the highest grossing R-rated movies of 1994 according to Box Office Mojo. "It is a stunning piece of work of visual manner — the best version of a comic book universe I've seen — and Brandon Lee clearly demonstrates in it that he might have become an action star, had he lived," said Roger Ebert.

Remaking cult classics rarely works out well. Just one example is the 2008 remake Expiry Race, a reworking of the 1975 cult classic Decease Race 2000. Despite having millions more dollars at its disposal, Death Race is considered ane of the worst sci-fi movie remakes always that has none of the B-movie charm of the original.

Given the comic book movie adaptation craze, information technology makes sense that someone decided to return to The Crow and see if whatever money could be fabricated from it. That search for cash will probably issue in a lackluster remake that volition be shiny from a big upkeep just lacking in the charm and dark underlying story that made The Crow a cult classic in the showtime place.

Follow Jacqueline on Twitter @Jacqui_WSCS

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