Development
Three years after the franchise's last entry, the direct-to-video film The Crow: Wicked Prayer, producer Edward R. Pressman and Relativity Media decided on a revitalization of the series; hiring Stephen Norrington to write and direct in December 2008. The film was to be Norrington's first directorial effort after 2003's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Alex Proyas, director of the original film, was quick to protest the film upon its announcement, and continued to criticize further attempts at remaking The Crow. In a statement to Variety, Norrington said "Whereas Alex Proyas' original was gloriously gothic and stylized, the new movie will be realistic, hard-edged and mysterious, almost documentary-style". Norrington submitted his script by October 2009, which was warmly received by the studio. The next month, producer Ryan Kavanaugh expressed enthusiasm over the project, and called it a "relaunch of the franchise". Norrington's vision explored the Crow's mythology and would not feature the character of Eric Draven. Robert Stromberg was enlisted for production design while location scouting was underway in June 2010. Production was scheduled for a summer 2010 start. Norrington looked to film in the American Southwest as well as Detroit or Philadelphia. By July, Australian musician Nick Cave was handling rewrites. Mark Wahlberg was offered the film's title role in October; the same month Norrington stepped out of the project, citing creative differences. The Crow suffered another setback when Wahlberg backed out of the film the following month.
By February 2011, negotiations started with Before the Fall filmmaker F. Javier Gutiérrez and 28 Weeks Later director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo to helm the project. Fresnadillo was officially on board by April, now joined by Enrique Lopez Lavigne of Apaches Entertainment and series mainstay Jeff Most producing. Norrington and Cave's script was expected to be discarded in favor of a page one rewrite. The film, now billed as a remake, began to pick up steam. Talks with Bradley Cooper began in earnest that same month, while production was slated to begin in the fall. Fresnadillo's adaptation would have cost an estimated $70 million.
Days after Fresnadillo's hiring, Harvey Weinstein and Bob Weinstein sued Relativity Media, claiming the studio breached a 2009 contract by shopping the film to other distributors. The Weinsteins alleged their studio, The Weinstein Company, held the remake's worldwide distribution rights. Relativity Media claimed not only did the Weinsteins "botch" the release of Nine, but they also "refused to pay Relativity the money owed to it under the agreements with the parties," which led Relativity Media to seek out a new distributor. In June 2011, Relativity Media issued a statement declaring victory over The Weinstein Company. That same month, Watchmen scribe Alex Tse was writing the script. Fresnadillo moved onto developing a Highlander remake, and Cooper would soon follow. With Cooper gone, the studio considered Mark Wahlberg and Channing Tatum for Eric.
The Weinstein Company and Relativity Media reached a settlement in January 2012, agreeing to "work on the film together as planned.” F. Javier Gutiérrez signed on to direct, while Jesse Wigutow was scripting new pages. Gutiérrez wanted to avoid doing a direct remake of 1994 adaptation, believing it to be "perfect". Instead the director planned for a "page-for-page adaptation" of the comic book. Gutiérrez felt the only way to bring the soul of the comic book was to involve its creator James O'Barr with the film. O'Barr was publicly against remaking the film, saying "Brandon Lee was a friend, and I'd never do anything to hurt his legacy". However, O'Barr was won over by Gutiérrez's vision and boarded the film as a creative consultant. Cliff Dorfman, a Crow "purist", was drafting a new screenplay from the ground up under Gutiérrez's supervision. Producer Robbie Brenner described Dorfman's screenplay as "grounded" and "character driven". Filming was aiming to begin in early 2014. James McAvoy and Tom Hiddleston were early contenders to play Eric Draven. Early talks with Hiddleston started in April 2013, with the actor performing his own makeup test after meeting with the project's producers. However, Mike Fleming Jr. at Deadline Hollywood described the reporting of Hiddleston's involvement as "a simple conversation has been overhyped and reported like it was going to happen," and indicated that Alexander Skarsgard was the top choice to play Draven. In May, Luke Evans was cast as Eric. Meanwhile, Gutiérrez was in the midst of casting Forest Whitaker as the film's villain and courting production designer Bo Welch, effects artist Rick Baker, musician Atticus Ross and makeup designer Bill Corso. By the summer, another lawsuit struck the project when producer Jeff Most sued Pressman for allegedly breaching his pay-or-play deal in 2011.
Producers briefly considered Kristen Stewart as Shelly, and by November 2013, Norman Reedus was up for a role. Location scouting was taking place in New Orleans, Louisiana and later in the United Kingdom. When it became clear that development was at a standstill, Gutiérrez left The Crow in favor of Rings in July 2014. Dorfman and O'Barr remained on board, eventually collaborating on further revisions of the script. Despite Gutiérrez's departure, Pressman reaffirmed that production was still on track for spring 2015.
Corin Hardy was selected to helm The Crow at year's end in 2014. Hardy's debut film, The Hallow, was set to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival just a month later. Dorfman's script, which at this point had been greenlit three separate times, was expected to be retained and Gutiérrez would receive an executive producer credit. By this time, Evans was no longer involved due to scheduling conflicts. By early 2015, Jack Huston and Jessica Brown Findlay were in place to portray Eric and Shelly, while Andrea Riseborough was slated to take on the role of Top Dollar. Hardy released Dorfman off the project and oversaw new script developments respectively from Claire Wilson and his The Hallow co-writer Felipe Marino. According to Dorfman, despite being dismissed, his draft was the one sent out to actors when Hardy was casting the film. Production was gearing up to take place at Pinewood Studios by March. Forest Whitaker returned to the project in June 2015, he was expected to join the film after completing Arrival and before Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. All the while, scheduling conflicts would prevent Huston from staying on board. Jack O'Connell and Nicholas Hoult were considered as possible replacements.
In July 2015, Relativity Media filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Though pre-production came to a stop and "several" heads of production had left the film, Relativity Media still considered The Crow a "top priority"; even rejecting several offers from other studios to purchase the franchise's rights. Further obstacles arose when producer Edward R. Pressman filed an objection against Relativity Media, accusing the studio of lacking the resources to properly finance the film and its theatrical release. Hardy remained attached nonetheless, having signed a holding deal with the studio amidst Pressman's filing. Dana Brunetti was appointed President of Relativity Media in January 2016 and temporarily removed Hardy as director the succeeding March.
Hardy returned to The Crow by June, bringing in actor Jason Momoa. In September 2016, filming was reported to begin in January 2017. By November, The Crow was shifted from Relativity Media to Davis Films and Highland Film Group. Filming was still on track for 2017, under the new title, The Crow Reborn. Hardy, Momoa, and Pressman regrouped in the summer, while O'Barr was involved "in every aspect of the film" by October.
The Crow Reborn was picked up by Sony Pictures in September 2017. Samuel Hadida was set to produce the film. Hardy and Momoa were not attached at the time of the acquisition, but the studio was optimistic to reattach both. Sony dated the film for October 11, 2019, with Momoa starring and Hardy directing. Momoa began preparation for The Crow Reborn immediately after wrapping filming on the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) film Aquaman. By May 2018, the film was in pre-production and was five weeks away from production in Budapest. However, tensions between Hardy and Hadida concluded with the director and Momoa leaving the film. Hardy called his decision to leave "hardest decision of all". By July, the project was abandoned by Sony, having pulled the film from its release date entirely.
In January 2020, Davis Films and Highland Film Group kickstarted development once again. The film, shortened back to The Crow, began searching for a new writer and director. Both Gutiérrez and Dorfman expressed an interest in returning to the film. O'Barr, however, changed his tune on remaking The Crow, calling it "not necessary". In March 2022, Pressman reaffirmed that the film was still a priority and that a finished deal with a director and star was near. The following month, Rupert Sanders and Zach Baylin were announced as director and writer. In April, Bill Skarsgård and FKA Twigs were cast as Eric and Shelly.
