‘The Crow' Projected For $6M-$9M Opening Weekend

The news keeps getting worse for Lionsgate’s $50M reboot of “The Crow.” The film screened today for critics, and oh boy, all I will say is that it won’t be able to rely on good reviews to boost its box office prospects. Variety is now forecasting “The Crow” to earn anywhere between $6M-$9M on opening weekend.

I’ve already tackled my reservations about “The Crow,” which is directed by Rupert Sanders. A 3-minute trailer was released in March. The reboot has been in development hell for the better part of 15 years. One of the key figures in this saga was screenwriter Cliff Dorfman (“Warrior”, “Entourage”) who wrote, at least, two drafts of the script, in 2012 and 2014.

Dorfman, who no longer shares a writing credit on the reboot, recently saw “The Crow” reboot and didn’t seem too pleased about the finished product. So much so that he went on his X account to vent about it. Here’s what he had to say:

If hypothetically, one happened to see a screening of @TheCrow_Movie 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.

He soon after deleted this tweet.

Back in March, Alex Proyas, director of the original film, slammed the reboot, claiming that it should have never gotten made. Then, Bill Skarsgård, who stars in the film, expressed disappointment after watching a cut, which, he claimed, was unsatisfying because it left the door open for a sequel (via Esquire).

Skarsgård stars in the role of Eric Draven, which was made iconic by the late Brandon Lee in the original. He is joined in the cast of “The Crow” by singer FKA twigs, who plays Draven’s girlfriend/fiancée, and Danny Huston (“Yellowstone”). Sanders (“Snow White and the Huntsman”) is directing, from a screenplay by Oscar nominee Zach Baylin (“King Richard”). Filming on this one wrapped more two years ago.

The whole raison d’être of the original was Brandon Lee. He’s the reason why it’s had such a healthy shelf life. Lee haunted every frame of “The Crow,” which had eerie parallels to his untimely death, a case of art imitating life.

Dariusz Wolski’s noir photography was another iconic component of “The Crow”. Director Alex Proyas made a fever-dream of a film that I don’t think can really be duplicated.