Rupert Sanders’ reimagining of The Crow hits theaters in a couple of days, and before its North American premiere, the director revealed that his take on the comic book series differs from the 1994 film in one major way: there were no actual guns allowed on set. Starring Bill Skarsgård, FKA Twigs, and Danny Huston, The Crow centers on a resurrected musician out for revenge over the death of his fiancée. Based on its trailer and first-look photos, the film hasn’t received the warmest of welcomes thus far, but opinions could change once it premieres.
Speaking with Variety ahead of The Crow’s release, Sanders said he put safety first on the set of his film. Having learned from past tragedies such as the untimely death of Brandon Lee during the 1994 production, and the recent death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust in 2021, the director says that despite how good the special effects team may have been, he wasn’t willing to take any chances.
“Safety is a number one priority. Film sets are very dangerous. There are fast moving cars with cranes stuck on the top. There are stunt guys falling on high wires down steps… You have to be safe. The first day I met with the special effects department and the armorer, who was great, in Prague. They were very safety-conscious. They follow all the same guidelines as the military when dealing with weapons, but I didn’t even want to risk
that
.”
The Crow 2024
Bill Skarsgård takes on the iconic role of THE CROW in this modern reimagining of the original graphic novel by James O’Barr. Soulmates Eric (Skarsgård) and Shelly (FKA twigs) are brutally murdered when the demons of her dark past catch up with them. Given the chance to save his true love by sacrificing himself, Eric sets out to seek merciless revenge on their killers, traversing the worlds of the living and the dead to put the wrong things right.
- Release Date
- June 7, 2024
As such, Sanders banned any real firearms from the set of The Crow to make sure that history wouldn’t repeat itself. Instead, he used mock lookalikes made of rubber as substitutes for the real thing.
“So I said, categorically, ‘We will have no firing weapons on set,’ which means we didn’t have one gun that could have had a live round or a blank round anywhere near it ever, so that no projectile could go in. They’re all Airsoft guns, and some of them are just rubber or metal decoys that are functional but have no firing mechanism.”
Having already directed Snow White and the Huntsman in 2012, and Ghost in the Shell in 2017, Sanders knows a thing or two about VFX, and how much they cost. With The Crow made on a limited budget of $50 million dollars, money was already tight for special effects, meaning that the choice to ban actual guns from the set was a costly one. For him, it was a price worth paying if it meant keeping everyone safe.
“It took a fair bit of money out of my very limited visual effects budget, but I think it was worth it. The visual effects on this movie were very much in-camera. We were mainly a location shoot with set extension. So you have to balance where you spend the money when you don’t have a massive budget to do visual effects. But to me, that was a very worthwhile spend for everyone’s safety and comfort going into this project.”
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Despite the mixed reactions to the trailer for The Crow, the move has definitely paid off, as the scenes that do feature the mock guns make them look tremendously authentic. We can’t speak about the rest of the movie just yet, other than that we know it’ll be bloody, but you can see for yourself how it all comes together when The Crow premieres on August 23 from Lionsgate Films.
