The first look at Bill Skarsgard in “The Crow” reboot has been revealed with director Rupert Sanders saying he drew inspiration from musicians like Post Malone for the design…
The first look at Bill Skarsgard as “The Crow” in the upcoming reboot have been revealed.
The highly anticipated film — set for release on June 7 — is directed by Rupert Sanders takes over the film franchise that is most famously associated with the 1994 version starring Brandon Lee, who tragically died during production. The source material is based on a comic book from writer James O’Barr and there have been several sequels as well as numerous failed attempts at a reboot that never got off the ground until now.
Skarsgard stars as Eric Draven with a slightly different take on the source material as well as the original film after he and his girlfriend Shelly Webster (played by musician FKA Twigs) are brutally murdered when demons from her past come back to haunt them. The villain in the upcoming film will be played by Danny Huston, which might be the most promising bit of casting yet for the reboot after he stole scene after scene in films like “30 Days of Night” and “American Horror Story.”
As far as the look that Skarsgard adopts as Eric Draven, it’s obviously a different take from the one Lee had when he played The Crow back in 1994. Sanders says he decided to go for a more modern look for the goth rocker turned angel of vengeance and he took inspiration from some current music stars.
“I think the beauty of Bill is that he has a disturbing beauty, and as he transforms through his loss he becomes this thing that even he can’t control,” Sanders said to Vanity Fair. “It’s that famous line: ‘Whoever fights monsters must be careful that they don’t become one.’ That look was me in the ’90s when we were squat-raving in London, [mixed with some modern influences] like Post Malone and Lil Peep.
“I hope people who are 19 today look at him and go, ‘That guy is us.’” That image captures the beginning of his transformation into the Crow. “It’s the moment we realize bad things are coming.”
Sanders also revealed that unlike “The Crow” from 1994, his film will explore a bit more of the relationship shared by Eric and Shelly before they meet their demise. The original mostly featured flashbacks of Eric and Shelly’s relationship together but the new reboot will attempt to connect the audience more to the couple, which will hopefully amp up the anticipation for the retribution coming for those who kill them.
“What drew me to this was the opportunity to make a dark romance, something that dealt with loss, grief, and the ethereal veil between life and death and reaching through that,” Sanders said. “Look, I grew up listening to Joy Division and the Cure, and this movie is a bit like a Cure song—the beauty of melancholy.”
Of course, “The Crow” reboot will draw comparisons to the original film whether anybody likes it or not so Sanders had to differentiate his movie from the one released in 1994 while still paying homage to the work done before him. That includes paying tribute to Lee, who died after he was accidentally shot filming a scene during the movie and it was only after urging from his family that the studio decided to finish the movie following his death.
“Brandon was an original voice and I think he will always be synonymous with The Crow and I hope he’s proud of what we’ve done and how we’ve brought the story back again,” Sanders said. “His soul is very much alive in this film.
“There’s a real fragility and beauty to his version of the Crow, and I think Bill feels like he is a successor to that.”
Take a look at all the images from “The Crow” with the film set for release on June 7.
