Following Brandon Lee’s sudden death, the filmmakers originally did not want to complete “The Crow”.
Shortly before his death, Brandon Lee would do his last interview contained on home video.
$18 million had already been p0ured into the troubled production. To the press, it was told the movie would be finished because “Brandon would have wanted it that way.” In reality, it was done because too much money had been invested.
Completion
Eight days remained on the shooting schedule. Most of what was missing was Brandon Lee’s portrayal of Eric Draven BEFORE his character was killed. Fortunately, enough of the backstory was filmed for it to make sense. Director Alex Proyas would cut this down t0 a series of montages. The role of Shelly Webster (played by Sofia Shinas) would be reduced.
Consequently, “The Crow” would be mostly about the returned-to-life avenger and not the indie rock star and front-man for the band called “Hangman’s Joke”.
Digital and CGI effects were in their infancy back in 1993. Nevertheless, through clever editing, rotoscopes, doubling and CGI, what wasn’t filmed with Lee was done with the art of special effects.
The cast and crew had mixed feelings about finishing “The Crow” without Brandon. A few of the crew quit. The Lee family decided it was the right thing to do, so the public would get to see him in his star-making role.
The studio that was signed on to distribute it – Paramount – backed out. The up-and-coming Miramax (headed by Bob and Harvey Weinstein) saw its potential. “There’s no such thing as bad publicity,” said Harvey Weinstein. “The Crow” would be released on May 13, 1994, reaching #1 at the box office.
The soundtrack album would achieve similar success.
Actress Rochelle Davis (Sarah) asked if an hour and a half movie was worth someone’s life.
Rochelle Davis as Sarah in “The Crow”
On the VHS version of “The Crow”, Brandon Lee’s said without equivocation that he would do the same thing as Eric Draven . . . This kind of violence was justified. It would be cut from the Blu Ray edition.
“The Crow” and its sequels.
Text © 2024 – EricReports