In an article to file under WTF: Stephen Norrington has signed on to write and direct a reinvention of The Crow, based on the comic created by James O’Barr.
The 1994 Alex Proyas-directed screen transfer, in which rock musician Eric Draven is murdered trying to rescue his girlfriend from thugs, and returns from the dead one year later to exact vengeance. Though the original became a gothic-style hit that grossed nearly $100 million worldwide, it is primarily remembered for a tragic accident in which star Brandon Lee was killed during filming.
For Norrington, The Crow deal marks the end of a long screen sabbatical. After making his breakthrough with the Marvel Comics hero Blade, Norrington took on a big-budget comic transfer with The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Neither the director nor his star, Sean Connery, has made a film since. For a good reason, no?
Norrington said he felt demoralized by that experience, and the accomplished sculptor spent the next five years writing and working on his art. He made a deal to direct Clash of the Titans for Warner Bros., but left the project, he said, because he was “unable to excite Warner Bros. with my take, or influence the screenplay to any comfortable extent.” That pic goes into production early next year with Louis Leterrier at the helm.
Norrington resolved to focus on independent projects, and sparked to an approach on The Crow from Relativity production chief Tucker Tooley.
“Whereas Proyas’ original was gloriously gothic and stylized, the new movie will be realistic, hard-edged and mysterious, almost documentary-style,” Norrington told Daily Variety.
Well, Movie Pressers, this sounds interesting, albeit probably a bad idea.
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