It appears that Relativity’s remake of the 1989 comic The Crow is has come to a standstill. Up until now, Limitless’ Bradley Cooper was slated to play Eric Draven, a rock and roll guitarist who is brought back to life by a mysterious crow in order to avenge the brutal deaths of himself and his girlfriend Shelly Webster. However Cooper has a busy schedule as of late, and his prior commitments to Silver Linings Playboy and the poetic epic Paradise Lost, have rendered him unavailable for the role of Draven.
In my opinion this is more of a gain than a loss. Bradley Cooper may have put out some good films as of late, but I hardly think that he has the chops to pull off the semi-psychopathic role of Draven. But even with Cooper gone, things still don’t bode well for The Crow. It appears that Relativity is now considering actors Mark Wahlberg and Channing Tatum for the roles, both of which I believe to be some of the most ridiculous choices! Last time I checked, Eric Draven was about half the age of Mark Whalberg and unless they want a terrible franchise like GI Joe or Step Up, Channing Tatum isn’t their man either.
The role of Draven is a hard one to cast and even Brandon Lee couldn’t pull it off without coming off a little hokey at times. Have any of these people in Hollywood actually ever been to a concert? Unless you count Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme, lead guitarists don’t have that Tatum or Wahlberg build. They need to be less muscular and a little more crazy. Just imagine Queen of the Damned’s Stuart Townsend but with a little more chops when it comes to acting. It seems that Relativity is trying to make this film more of a vehicle for a good looking buff guy instead of making something that holds to the integrity of the comic. And I know everybody seems to think this, but I tend to agree.. Johnny Depp would kill it as The Crow, as long as Tim isn’t there to ruin it.
However one thing the people over at Relativity did get right, is the choice of Juan Carlos Fresnadillo for the Director’s chair. Carlos already has had his fair share of good films with Intacto and 28 Weeks later, and his proclivity towards the horror genre makes him a perfect guy to bring Devil’s Night to life. Fresnadillo’s new horror flick Intruders is just finishing up with post and undoubtedly will give us an even closer look at the man’s capable hands. Hopefully Relativity gets their act together and surrounds him with the tools he needs to make The Crow succeed!
