Bill Skarsgard stars in The Crow, a movie adaption of the 1989 comic book series created by James O’Barr, which hits theaters this week. But it’s not the first time The Crow has been on the big screen, and fans of the original have not been welcoming toward the new version.
Director Rupert Sanders is aware that the upcoming film has been subjected to negative buzz from fans of the 1994 version, which starred Brandon Lee in his final film role. Lee was killed while filming the movie, and backlash has been ongoing since the reboot was announced, with many asking “Why?”
But Sanders insists that people need to get over it. “I think a lot of people are very active online and not so active in life,” Sanders told Entertainment Weekly. “Get out and do something and have less time throwing stones.”
Despite the new iteration, Sanders says that the original film still exists on its own, and its legacy is still there, no matter what happens. “I think it would be great just for people to know that this is a reimagining and wildly different from the original and that the original’s still there. I haven’t recorded over anyone’s VHS,” he explained. “You can still go and see that movie, and I hope this movie resonates with people who loved that movie when they were in their teens. This is my version of that text. It was my adaptation of James’s graphic novel, which I loved.”
The Crow follows Eric Draven, a musician who is killed along with his fiancé but rises from the dead to avenge her death. The reimagining’s promotional material has taken hits like Jared Leto Joker comparisons, but hey, at least we got some Skarsgard content out of it.
The Crow hits theaters on August 23rd.