In Hollywood, nothing is sacred—not even The Crow. While Alex Proyas‘s 1994 film received cult status for both Brandon Lee’s outstanding performance and his tragic accident on set, studios have long tried to figure out a way to capture the lightning-in-a-bottle effect again. At one point, there was even a plan for The Crow reboot starring Jason Momoa as Eric Draven.
Why Hollywood Keeps Trying to Reboot The Crow Franchise
After none of The Crow‘s sequels managed to captivate the audience in the same way as the original had, a decision was made to reboot the franchise entirely. The project pinged from director to director, and even actors. Bradley Cooper’s name did the rounds, then Luke Evans was cast, but he made way for Jack Huston. Eventually, Jason Momoa was selected in the lead role, with The Nun‘s Corbin Hardy directing.
Why Jason Momoa’s The Crow Reboot Was Cancelled
Unfortunately, due to “creative and financial differences”, as reported by Deadline, both Hardy and Momoa departed The Crow reboot in 2018, leaving the franchise’s future up in the air. Since then, however, test footage of Momoa in character has leaked online, with many fans commenting on how perfect he looks as Draven and what a missed opportunity it was.
In a recent interview with ComicBook.com, though, Hardy refused to throw in the towel. “It’s a story that I’m just in love with and wedded towards and I put three and a half, four years of life into and love and blood and sweat and tears,” he said, “and I have a ton of materials, so I don’t know whether one day … I suppose I’m not really wanting to show them because I still believe there will be a Crow sometime, but we’ll see.”
Why Jason Momoa’s The Crow Reboot Still Needs to Happen
Hardy’s passion for the project is clear, as is Momoa’s. They both invested a lot of time and effort into it, believing they could do something unique and pay tribute to both James O’Barr’s seminal graphic novel and the iconic 1994 film.
Considering Jason Momoa’s incredible star power now, reviving The Crow reboot is simply a no-brainer. The film will instantly receive more eyes on it than ever before, as everyone will be curious to see if the Aquaman actor can do the legendary role justice.
The truth is, Jason Momoa is more than qualified for the part. If you think back to the original film, Draven was a rock star who lost the love of his life. Whether it’s on-screen or in real life, Momoa is a rock star who wears his heart on his sleeve. There’s so much passion in everything he does that you can’t help but root for him to succeed. Plus, teaming him up with Hardy’s horror sensibilities would’ve given us one of the darkest iterations of The Crow yet, making it more in line with the source material.
Why The Crow (2024) Reboot Failed at the Box Office
It goes without saying that The Crow’s 2024 comeback was definitely not the kind of resurrection fans had hoped for. After years of development limbo, Rupert Sanders finally pushed the reboot into cinemas with Bill Skarsgård stepping into Eric Draven’s boots. But the result was a film that barely scraped together $13.2 million against a $50 million budget and left audiences wondering why it exists at all. It never found an audience.
But was it all doom and gloom for the franchise? No, there were moments of greatness hidden in the film’s action sequences. At times, it felt like a haunted, supernatural John Wick tale – you know, stylised violence and tight fight choreography. During those moments, the film knew what it wanted to be.
The problem is that it takes a long time to get to those moments. Before you get to the fight sequences, you have to sit through all the clunky storytelling and a version of Eric and Shelly that doesn’t connect with viewers. Unlike the 1994 Brandon Lee version, there’s no emotional hook or even a reason to really care about any of the characters.
But now that they’ve learnt from their mistakes, the producers can go back to the drawing board and make the reboot or sequel fans want to see. The bones were there. They just built the wrong movie around them.
Could Jason Momoa’s The Crow Reboot Still Happen?
Is it possible that Jason Momoa’s The Crow reboot could still find its wings and fly again? Never say never in Hollywood, but any studio would be silly to turn down a potential hit like this. He’s played Aquaman, Garrett “The Garbage Man” Garrison, Duncan Idaho, and we’ll soon see him as Lobo and Blanka. What’s stopping Momoa from being Eric Draven, too? And if you’re not convinced, the test footage can still be found on the internet.
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Tell us, would you have liked to see Jason Momoa’s The Crow reboot movie?
