The Crow, as envisioned by Rupert Sanders, has reached new heights and landed at a production company. Penzing Studios, located about 30 miles west of Munich, Germany, will be the official filming location. The studio, a former air force base, will host its first large international production, with all visual components of filmmaking taking place on the premises, including the filming of the feature. Location shooting will take place in Prague and Munich, both in the Czech Republic and Germany, with much of the digital asset creation and visual effects work taking place in the state of Bavaria.
Sanders’ remake of the popular 1994 film by Alex Proyas will remain faithful to the James O’Barr comic book series of the same name, first published in 1989. Audiences will see a guy cruelly slain, but then revived by a crow and given a second chance to exact revenge on his killers and anyone else who harms the defenceless. Bill Skarsgrd will play the lead role, and he’ll be joined by the likes of Danny Huston and FKA Twigs in this next film. The Things They Carried was going to be the director and star’s first project together since they parted ways to make this picture.
Sanders and Tom Hardy’s production firm, Hardy Son & Baker, had planned to make a film in 2019 based on Tim O’Brien’s short story collection of the same name; however, they appear to have put the project on hold. The first version of The Crow was released in 1994 and starred Bruce Lee’s son, martial arts expert and actor Brandon Lee. On March 31, 1993, the young star’s life was cut tragically short when he was shot while filming a gun sequence using dummy cartridges. With only three more days of shooting remaining, Lee’s body double was called upon to round out the cast.
After its release, the picture became a financial smash, grossing $94 million on a budget of just $23 million. The Crow gained a cult following for its tale and the tragedy that occurred during filming, leading to the creation of three sequels starring different actors and a television spinoff. The script for The Crow was written by Oscar nominee Zach Baylin (King Richard). Edward R. Pressman, who also worked on the original film’s production, joins Molly Hassell, Victor Hadida, John Jencks, and Pressman as producers.