The Crow, a 2024 reboot of the gothic superhero film franchise that stars Bill Skarsgård as Eric Draven—a man who, as originally introduced in James O’Barr’s acclaimed 1989 comic book series, is given a chance to avenge the deaths of himself and his girlfriend after he is resurrected with regenerative powers—has failed at the box office, having only collected $4.6 million following its premiere in U.S. theaters on August 23, according to the latest figures shared by entertainment outlets. The opening performance of the film, which has been described by some critics as being “disastrous,” comes a few months after Alex Proyas shared his thoughts about the reboot, suggesting that it should have never been made to honor the legacy of Brandon Lee, who died tragically when a gun malfunctioned during the production of the 1994 original.
Box office performance of the franchise includes:
- The Crow (1994): $50,822,164
- The Crow: City of Angels (1996): $17,917,287
- The Crow (2024): $4,600,000 (as of 8/23)
Proyas said of the Crow reboot in March:
- “I really don’t get any joy from seeing negativity about any fellow filmmakers work. And I’m certain the cast and crew really had all good intentions, as we all do on any film.”
- “So it pains me to say any more on this topic, but I think the fan’s response speaks volumes.”
- “[‘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.”
As for what some critics are saying:
- “…this version, directed by Rupert Sanders, is spiritually derived from is neither the film nor the comic, but rather the flattened popular image that the film produced — a Hot Topic-style version of alternative consciousness.”
- “Ugly, incoherent, and ultimately cynical, The Crow evokes the words of wisdom from another horror movie about resurrected corpses on a rampage: Sometimes dead is better.”
- “The Crow is not a waste of talent or resources; worse, it just hangs there on the screen, as undead as Eric himself.”
- “Brandon Lee’s original was hard to shake because of his untimely demise. This forgettable new version doesn’t just fail to honour his memory — it never justifies its existence on its own merits.”
- “It’s like an anti-entertainment protest.”
Some clips and a trailer for the new film:
From a report:
Lionsgate limited its skin in the game with a $10M North American acquisition and $15M P&A on this Rupert Sanders-directed take, starring burgeoning IT and John Wick: Chapter 4 genre star Bill Skarsgård. At the end of the day, the studio stands to lose more — in the neighborhood of $30M — on its $110M-plus feature take of gonzo sci-fi video game Borderlands.
…bad word-of-mouth spread like wildfire up until opening. Social media analytics corp RelishMix reported that The Crow had an online universe reach across TikTok, Facebook, X, YouTube and Instagram at 76.7M — 45% under the action-horror norm.