After lots of stops and starts for Relativity’s high-profile reboot of cult classic The Crow, Luke Evans has officially backed away from the project. The Hobbit actor had been attached to the lead role since May of last year, when F. Javier Gutierrez was signed to direct, but the many delays experienced by the project left Evans, whose star has been on the rise thanks to this fall’s Dracula Untold, with no choice other than to jump ship.
In December, the actor hinted that he had gone cold on The Crow despite Relativity recruiting director Corin Hardy, whose horror pic The Hallow premieres at Sundance this year, to replace Gutierrez. At that time, Evans was quoted as saying:
“It’s not, no. No at the minute… ‘The Crow’ is not, not for me, I think it’s a little… I mean I’m sure it’s going to go ahead at some point, but I have other projects that are greenlit and ready to go and projects that I’m very interested in and you know, I can’t wait much longer!”
Now that Evans has officially departed, Hardy will assist Relativity in finding a new star conducive to his personal vision for the film.
Relativity is still hoping to get The Crow off the ground quickly, given how popular comic-book movies are these days, so expect to see a new lead actor signed for the role within the next few months. Filming was previously set to begin sometime this year, though Evans’ departure no doubt puts another obstacle in the project’s path as far as that’s concerned.