For better or worse, it doesn’t look like we’re going to get that reboot of The Crow starring Aquaman’s Jason Momoa anytime soon. While the remake of the 1994 gothic action fantasy film was set to start shooting in the coming weeks with an October 2019 release date in mind, Momoa and director Corin Hardy have both exited the project due to creative differences.
As a lasting reminder of what could’ve been, however, Hardy has now Tweeted a pre-production photo that features the looming figure of Momoa in the same Crow makeup once sported by the late Brandon Lee.
The director also released the following statement, which gets surprisingly poetic at the end:
I knew from the off, that the idea of making a new version of The Crow was never going to be for everyone, because it is a beloved film. And I say that as someone in love with it myself. But I poured everything I had into the last 3.5 years of work, to try & create something which honoured what the Crow stood for; from James O’Barr’s affecting graphic novel, to Alex Proyas’s original movie, with great respect to Brandon Lee and with the desire to make something bold and new, that myself, as an obsessive fan, could be proud of.
And with Jason Momoa, and my amazing team of artists & film-makers, we came SO close. But sometimes, when you love something so much, you have to make hard decisions. And yesterday, deciding it was time to let go of this dark & emotional dream project, was the hardest decision of all.
Buildings burn, people die, but real love is forever.
Fortunately, you won’t have to wait too long to catch the next projects from both Momoa and Hardy. While Aquaman hits cinemas on December 21st, Hardy’s Conjuring spinoff, The Nun, arrives September 7th.
And while The Crow’s future is currently in jeopardy, at least Momoa has gone on record saying that he still wishes to play the vengeful Eric Draven one day. Whether he’ll get the chance to do so or not, though, we’ll just have to wait and see.