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It’s been awhile since we’ve heard anything about Stephen Norrington’s planned reboot of The Crow–so long, in fact, that I was kinda hoping it had de-railed. No such luck, as website Mania caught up with the filmmaker recently and got the scoop on where the project currently stands. Here’s a hint: if you wanted a Crow reboot, you’ll like this story.

Norrington tells the site the project is moving toward a studio greenlight. “The producer and visual effects people are crunching numbers,” Norrington said. “We’ve opened discussions with major cast but nothing is final yet.”

Plans are currently being set to shoot the film–which follows a modified mythology with new characters–sometime during the summer. That could very well change, but the tentative plan is to start filming later this year.

The film is an updating of Alex Proyas’ 1994 original, a cult classic film that was not only successful but based on a popular comic book well before comic films became all the rage. Brandon Lee played the title character and died in a tragic set accident before the film was completed.

i09 caught up with producer Ryan Kavanaugh recently, and he spent some time talking about Stephen Norrington’s planned rebooting of The Crow franchise. I’m not really sure what to make of anything Kavanaugh said, because it’s all vague and in “producer-speak”, but I still don’t get a particularly good vibe about this project.

As an example of that “producer-speak”, here’s what he had to say about potential casting:

“We’re looking. We’re in discussions…I think it’s something cool, we’re approaching it differently. It’s really a whole relaunch of the franchise, much more of a dark superhero type. We’re just relaunching it and making it with a much more present day character, someone more relatable to everybody. It will be an actor you’ve heard of, yes. We’re not ruling anything out. We’re looking at both, with the very well known and the ‘very talented but they may not be quite there yet’.”

Christ almighty, does he ever actually say anything in that quote? I do enjoy the idea of the main character of the film being “more relatable to everybody”. Wasn’t Brandon Lee’s character pretty easy to identify with and relate to? I see this turning out well…

I think it’s funny that he makes a distinction between the “very well known” and “very talented” too. If you had to choose one or the other, and you really were an artist, wouldn’t you go with the very talented 100 times out of 100 if they were mutually exclusive?

Kavanaugh then talks about the new make-up they’re planning for the film. “It’s totally different…” he tells the site. “He’ll have makeup, but it will be different. The best way to compare it is the first Batman and Batman Begins. In terms of their look and feel and character.”

I guess I can live with that. I always find it funny that the make-up is such a big issue. Halloween nerds obsess over every detail of Michael Myers’ mask too, and I’ve never really understood why. However, if that floats your boat then have at it.

Anyway, there’s your Crow update. I tried to avoid being pessimistic when I started writing this post. Looking back over it now, it’s clear that I’ve failed miserably.

I know a lot of people are up in arms about the idea of rebooting The Crow franchise (including director Alex Proyas, who made the original. I am not one of them. When it was announced earlier this year that Stephen Norrington was relaunching the series, my first reaction was “meh”. I would have found a straight remake of the original film troubling (despite the fact that I don’t feel as though the original has aged particularly well), but let’s be honest–after the first film, this series sucks. The only Crow news better than Norrington coming back to reboot the whole thing would be a promise never to make another Crow film, period.

The guys over at Mania have the scoop on what’s up with the new version so far. According to their sources, the current draft of the script has been “very well received” by the folks at Relativity Media (who’re handling production duties). Mania says this news would seem to indicate that casting will be the next step. Brandon Lee will always be iconic Crow–but who would you tag to play the role now? Keep in mind that Norrington is promising that this reboot will be less gothic, with a harder edge and shot in a documentary style.

I liked The Crow when it debuted back in 1994 (I’m getting old…), but it’s one of those films that hasn’t aged particularly well, and if not for it being Brandon Lee’s last movie, I don’t know that people would feel so passionately about it. That being said, I’m not really interested in seeing a remake of it, which is what Hollywood is planning to do.

Director Alex Proyas wants nothing to do with a remake though–and I like his attitude. Hollywood is an evil place filled with politically correct yes men afraid to rock the boat because it might piss off some executive and kill their career. Proyas is apparently unconcerned about this and had the following to say about the remake to Digital Spy:

“The whole notion of remaking [The Crow], to me, is just ridiculous and I’d have nothing to do with it, as I’ve had nothing to do with any of the sequels or the TV show or any of that stuff. That’s other people involved with that and I wouldn’t even dream of remaking the movie,” he continued, “because as far as I’m concerned, that’s Brandon Lee’s movie and that’s why I finished the movie — in memory of Brandon. That’s the only reason I finished it actually.”

I’d like to see more directors take this approach when it comes to Hollywood remaking their films. If nothing else, at least it’s honest.

I don’t really know what to make of this news that The Crow is about to remade/rebooted/reinterpreted for a new audience. On one hand, I’m all for it–I like the character and I know it’s probably blasphemous to say, but even the Brandon Lee original didn’t blow me away (and I think looking at it today you can certainly make the argument that it hasn’t aged well at all). The sequels were even worse and I’m not even going to discuss the TV series.

On the other side of the coin, there’s the fact that they made multiple films and a TV series out of this comic book and they still never managed to get it right. What makes anyone think this outing will be any different?

Anyway, Variety is reporting that production company Relativity Media and producer Ed Pressman have been in contact with director Stephen Norrington (Blade, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) about reviving the franchise.

When discussing how his interpretation of the character would be different than the original, Norrington stated his take would be “realistic, hard-edged and mysterious, almost documentary style“.

More on this as details become available.