Good vibrations are short lived. The Crow has no director

Well, yesterday we had good news (or bad depending on your taste), with word that Mark Wahlberg had been offered the lead in the new The Crow film. Now comes word that Norrington has left as writer and director, seemingly, due to demands of a script overhaul by an actor associated with the film. Is it the previously reported Wahlberg, flexing some clout? Check out the news here at Mania.com.

This is really turning into one cluster....

Is it "good vibrations" for the new Crow film???

The folks over at Bloody Disgusting report none other than Mark Wahlberg, has been offered the lead role in the remake being directed by Norrington from a re-written Nick Cave script. Already folks are making Marky Mark jokes and such. I am kind of intrigued by Wahlberg being offered the role. This is the first bit of news from this that has peaked my interest. Not enough to change my thoughts on this being a bad idea. But there is still a sense intrigue that comes with this. Something to note, as the report indicates, he has been offered the role. No word on whether he has accepted. Interesting news indeed.

Abashed the devil saw how ironic it is....

Reports have come out today at Comingsoon.net saying THE CROW director Alex Proyas is set to direct the feature film version of Milton's epic poem PARADISE LOST. Fans who are up on their Crow trivia should know that the character T-Bird is seen reading from PARADISE LOST during the rape scene of Shelly and one of his famous lines is a quote from the book, "Abashed the devil stood and felt how awful goodness is.". In fact, we hear it twice in the movie, once during the rape and then SPOILER ALERT as he is headed off to his demise he starts quoting that line over and over.

Talk about ironic twists of fate, pretty cool stuff.

Disney sells Miramax and its catalog titles.

Folks may have seen that Disney recently sold Miramax, along with all of its catalog titles. You may be wondering what this means for The Crow titles. In a word, nothing. Buena Vista Home Video still owns the rights to the Crow catalog titles and those were not part of the sale of Miramax or Dimension. I have checked and as of right now, there is no plans to bring any of The Crow titles to Blu-ray any time soon. Hopefully when plans are put into motion, they take the time to get EVERYONE involved with the first film coming to Blu-ray and we get a complete package which was denied us in the Collectors Series DVD release.

Pressman wants Nick Cave to rewrite new Crow film

The folks over at TheWrap spoke to Pressman recently. Seems there is a rewrite of the Norrington script for the new Crow film being done. None other than Nick Cave has been asked to complete said rewrite. Those that know Pressman are familiar with rewrites (for some reason he didn't commission any rewrites for Salvation which could have used a few more passes before going before cameras). Not sure if this means the Norrington script was not working, or they wanted a different voice to see how it stirred up the pot. The same was done with the first film's script where you had Jeff Most and John Shirley writing the initial drafts and then David Schow coming in to add his flurishes. One thing for sure this does mean, it will be that much longer before cameras start rolling on the film.

All indicators point to theatrical release for Norrington's Crow film

With it appearing that Dimension is out of the way and Relativity taking over distribution, one would think that the new Crow film by Norrington might stand a greater chance at a theatrical release. All indications are that is the route being pursued. Of course, we have heard that before and have seen the last two films go the direct to video route. We shall see if all good intentions do lead to a theatrical release. That would be a bit of good news in what so far hasn't been anything to "crow" about with this latest effort. I stand cautious at this point, not cautiously optimistic as I am still not sold the route being taken is the best. However, for now, I will stand cautious and hope my fears are disproved.

Word on the reboot.....or is it?

MTV Splash Page has posted this bit:

The screenplay for a new The Crow film is finished and production will begin this year, Producer Edward Pressman told MTV today.

The new film will, according to Pressman, be set in both a small Southwest town and a larger city. The action will move from the town to the city and back again.

Though a star is not currently attached, Pressman claims that an offer has gone out to "a major actor".

The new film will attempt to reboot the franchise with a number of alterations. One Pressman talks about is the nature of the actual Crow itself, describing it as "a creature... it's not just a bird. It's got a personality and a character. Not like Godzilla exactly, but it's very different [and has] a more active role in the story."

All I can say is this looks like another rehash, recycled, reheated attempt at the original movie. This sounds nothing like a reboot. The more I hear, the further I feel this is going down the road of just another sequel. I want to be wrong, I really do.