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Curse Of ‘The Crow’: Vexed Remake Looks To Cast ‘Game Of Thrones’ Star Jason Momoa In Lead Role

By Cal Jeffrey
Published on: 11:24 PST, Aug 10, 2016

The Crow remake has had many setbacks and delays, but the film may be moving forward again, and Game of Thrones actor Jason Momoa is in talks to star in the movie, according to Mashable. Momoa posted a photo of himself and director Corin Hardy shaking hands over a beer.

The caption on the photo reads, “The only way to officially seal the deal as men Is a pint of black beauty,” along with hashtags that included “#sealthedeal, #greatnewstocome and #dreamjob.”

Currently, Hardy is casting for the remake of the movie, The Crow. There are no other projects that he is working on at this time, so it is safe to assume that the “deal” has to do with the reboot. In fact, Mashable sources have confirmed that Jason is in negotiations to play the lead role.

Momoa is currently filming the DC movie Aquaman in which he stars as the aquatic superhero. So despite the “seal the deal” comment, scheduling conflicts may prevent the Game of Thrones star from working on both movies simultaneously. However, sources also say that he has found a way around filming routines.

The Crow is a dark tale of a man named Eric Draven, who is forced to watch the rape and murder of his fiancé before being left for dead. He is brought back to from the land of the dead by a crow to seek vengeance on the gang who assaulted him and his dear Shelly. It first appeared as a graphic novel by James O’Barr and was adapted to the silver screen in 1994.

The original film was directed by Alex Proyas and took generous liberties that strayed from the original story. The remake, which is being directed by Corin Hardy, adheres much closer to O’Barr’s original work.

According to Comicbook, “Rather than a recreation of Proyas’ film, the new The Crow film is said to be a closer adaptation of the original source material.”

However, the “curse of The Crow” may be holding back production. Jason Momoa is the fifth actor to consider portraying the lead character in the film. Actors Tom Hiddleston and Alexander Skarsgård were approached early in production, but no deals were signed. The Wrap also reported that Bradley Cooper was in talks for the role while the film was still in pre-production. The actor under consideration before Momoa was Luke Evans. After a delay in production had put the schedule on indefinite hold, Evans dropped out to pursue other projects. The inability to hang on to a male lead, production delays, and lawsuits against the filmmakers, bring to mind the alleged curse that the first film endured.

The original movie starred Brandon Lee, son of martial artist and actor Bruce Lee. Brandon was tragically killed on set before The Crow finished shooting. During a scene where he was walking through a door carrying a grocery bag, another actor fired a gun loaded with blanks at him. At the same moment, Lee set off a small explosive special effect inside the grocery bag that simulates a bullet entry.

According to a 1993 Los Angeles Times article, it was “unclear whether the projectile came from the gun or the grocery bag or both.”

After an investigation, initial reports stated it was the special effect that killed Brandon. However, it was later revealed that was not the case. The confusion arose from the fact that the special effect used in the grocery bag is referred to as a squib. This term is also used by firearms professionals to describe something lodged inside the barrel of a gun. The two terms were confused in initial reports.

The autopsy showed that Lee was struck in the abdomen with a 44-caliber slug. Hollywood squibs do not use projectiles of any kind except for theatrical blood in many cases. Therefore, the slug had to have come from the gun firing blanks.

According to the Telegraph, the accident occurred because the prop gun in the incident had also been used in a different scene where it was loaded with dummy rounds. Dummy rounds are standard cartridges without the powder to fire. The prop department had made their own dummy rounds but had failed to remove the primer on the cartridges. Evidently, the firing of the primer was enough to push the slug partially down the barrel. Before being loaded with blanks, the gun was not checked for squibs. The discharge from the blank was enough to propel the obstruction out of the barrel with a force equivalent to an actual 44-caliber load.

Lee was transported to a nearby hospital but died despite several surgeries performed to save his life. The Telegraph reported that his death was only one in a series of accidents that had put the production behind schedule and had many wondering if the film was cursed.

“Just as production had begun, a carpenter suffered severe burns when his crane hit live power lines. The so-called ‘Storm of the Century’ swept through the Southeastern US on March 13 and caused a panicked hiatus. Icicles formed, dangling from the rain machines on set, which were needed to sustain the film’s constant downpour. Everyone got ill.”

The Crow‘s producers almost entirely scrapped the nearly-completed project after Paramount said they would not distribute the film. However, Miramax bought the rights to the movie, and the crew finished production after reworking the script. They used Lee’s stunt double and CGI to complete the unfinished scenes.

In addition to the numerous delays and casting problems, the filmmakers of The Crow remake have faced several lawsuits since the movie went into pre-production. According to CinemaBlend, the Weinstein brothers own Miramax and the distribution rights to the film. The Weinsteins brought suit against Relativity Media in an attempt to stop the filming of the remake. Relativity claims that the lawsuit has no merit and that they will ask for a dismissal.

It seems that the ghost of Eric Draven played by the ghost of Brandon Lee is coming back to haunt the remake of the cursed movie. However, the curse of The Crow is the furthest from the minds of Corin Hardy and Jason Momoa, since they both seem excited to continue working on the movie despite the troubles, or maybe it is just the beer.

Relativity Media originally slated The Crow for a 2016 release, but according to IMDb, it is unknown at this time when the film will be completed.

[Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images]

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