Original the Crow Director Tears Into ‘Cynical Cash-Grab’ Reboot: ‘Not Much Cash to Grab It Seems’

The director of the original The Crow has posted a number of online comments hitting out at the reboot’s poor commercial performance.

Lionsgate’s The Crow reboot bombed at the box office to the tune of just $4.6 million in the U.S. and Canada on a reported budget of $50 million. The Crow, starring Bill Skarsgård and FKA Twigs, secured an additional $4.6 million overseas, per Box Office Mojo, which puts its worldwide gross under $10 million so far.

The original film, starring Brandon Lee as the central character, opened to $11.7 million in the U.S. and Canada when it hit screens in 1994, which, adjusted for inflation, would be an estimated $35.5 million in 2024, putting it way out in front of the reboot that has arrived in theaters 30 years later.

Director of the original The Crow, Alex Proyas, took to Facebook to roast the performance of the reboot. “I thought the remake was a cynical cash-grab,” Proyas wrote in one post. “Not much cash to grab it seems.”

Proyas has also shared negative reviews of the reboot (IGN’s The Crow review returned a 5/10).

In previous posts, Proyas has argued that The Crow didn’t need a reboot in the first place. In March, Proyas posted a strongly worded statement on Facebook saying the original The Crow was finished as “a testament to [Brandon Lee’s] lost brilliance and tragic loss.”

Brandon Lee, the son of Hollywood legend Bruce Lee, died at the age of 28 after being wounded by a prop gun on the set of the original.

His performance was widely praised after The Crow was released to commercial and critical success, and his tragic death sparked conversations that continue today about the importance of on-set safety.

“I really don’t get any joy from seeing negativity about any fellow filmmakers work,” he said. “And I’m certain the cast and crew really had all good intentions, as we all do on any film. So it pains me to say any more on this topic, but I think the fan’s response speaks volumes. The Crow is not just a movie. Brandon Lee died making it, and it was finished as a testament to his lost brilliance and tragic loss. It is his legacy. That’s how it should remain.”

For his part, Rupert Sanders, who directed the remake, told Vanity Fair that he considered the new film as something of a tribute to Lee.

“Obviously, it was a terrible tragedy, and it’s definitely something that we’ve always had in mind through the making of the film,” Sanders said. “Brandon was an original voice and I think he will always be synonymous with The Crow and I hope he’s proud of what we’ve done and how we’ve brought the story back again. His soul is very much alive in this film. There’s a real fragility and beauty to his version of the Crow, and I think Bill feels like he is a successor to that.”

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].