Even with Bill Skarsgard’s smeared eyeliner and the film’s giggle-filled promotion, The Crow did not live up to studio hopes, ad expectations were already pretty low, so it’s not looking good for Lionsgate on this title.
After years of pushback and delays, the remake hit theaters on August 23rd, and The Crow has made only $18 million worldwide so far, which would be a different reality it was a student film or shot by an iPhone, but it actually had a budget of $50 million, which it will almost certainly not make back even after VOD.
On average, the box office total boils down to about $59 per theater, as highlighted by Collider. Considering that the average movie ticket is $12-15 (unless you’re AMC A-list like Nicole Kidman) that’s about four people seeing it at 2,700 domestic locations. And those three or four people are probably Skarsgard relatives.
Reviews called the disastrous film “unfathomably awful” and “dull and lifeless.” Apparently, it makes Pennywise the Clown look demure and mindful. Bring him back!!
The movie was already in hot water before it hit theaters. Even Alex Proyas, who directed the 1994 classic, slammed the remake for existing in the first place, “THE CROW is not just a movie. Brandon Lee died making it, and it was finished as a testament to his lost brilliance and tragic loss. It is his legacy. That’s how it should remain.”
The Crow is currently out in theaters, but who knows how long it will stay there.