The idea behind this re-adaptation of James O’Barr’s legendary Graphic Novel would be to adapt it in tone and visually closer to the original comic. This would involved the film being black and white and with splashes of color only through the flashbacks. This adds in several characters from the comic absent in the original film, creating a larger cast. This does have some changes compared to both original film and comic but carries a specific tone.
A Mechanic (Eric) is resurrected one year from his fiancée’s (Shelly) and his murder. Guided by the Ominous Skull Cowboy and a Mystical Crow, he goes on a search for vengeance as hunts down the gang members responsible. Crossing over onto his quest are two Detroit Detectives still working the case. On this journey Eric will struggle to follow a path of vengeance as he is presented a path of redemption by helping a young girl (Sherri) and her older sister (Sandy) whom was Shelly’s best friend.
Composer: A film score (also sometimes called film music, background music, or incidental music) is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score forms part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects, and comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental or choral pieces called cues which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to enhance the dramatic narrative and the emotional impact of the scene in question.
Clint Mansell [Notable Works: Requiem for a Dream, The Wrestler, Mother]: He’s a composer who can balance elements of action, horror, drama, and most importantly in the The Crow, Romance and sorrow. He’s a great composer who could bring strong weight to the film and fit the work with my choice of director.
Screenwriter: A screenplay or script is a written work by screenwriters for a film, video game or television program. These screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated. A play for television is also known as a teleplay.
Darren Aronofsky [Notable Works {As A Writer}: Pi, Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain]: If there is a better comic book project that fit’s Aronofsky in both style and themes, it’s one Aronofsky wrote. His scripts are wonderful and play to interesting themes that truly fit the comic.
Director: A film director is a person who directs the making of a film. Generally, a film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the script while guiding the technical crew and actors in the fulfillment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, production design, and the creative aspects of filmmaking.
Darren Aronofsky [Notable Works {As A Director}: Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain, Black Swan]: Really, if you’re going to re-adapt the Crow you need a director who could make a film that no one else could make. It must be wildly different from any adaptation of any source material. For that you need a unique and storied director to take on the role. Darren Aronofsky is unlike any other director. Frankly it comes down to The Crow being the perfect project as it plays to a lot of themes Aronofsky explores.
Eric/The Crow [Height: 6’ 1”, Age: 30’s]: A former mechanic, Eric and his Fiancée Shelly had built a house on vacant property outside of Detroit, intending to build a life together. During a date night their car catches a flat tire, forcing them to stop. They’re discovered by local gang led by a figure known as T-Bird who tortures and murders Eric and Shelly, Eric is reborn a year later with a week’s time to exact revenge on those who took his and Shelly’s life.
Adam Driver [Height: 6’ 2”, Age: 36, Notable Works Star Wars {Sequel Trilogy}, Logan Lucky, Marriage Story]: When it came to Eric, I couldn’t think of anyone else in the role. Adam is an underrated and dynamic actor that has given great performances even in horrendous films. He’s got a brooding strength and sensitivity that really echoes Brandon Lee’s portrayal of the character. He’s a perfect actor for this role and would stand with Brandon Lee to create a similar conversational dynamic with the character that Heath Ledger and Joaquin Phoenix have with the Joker.
Shelly [Height: 5’ 8”, Age: 30’s]: Eric’s Fiancée and victim to T-Bird’s gang. When Eric is resurrected, he’s fueled by both his grief and his love for Shelly who appears as manifestations to help move him forward on his journey.
Deborah Ann Woll [Height: 5’ 10”, Age: 35, Notable Works: True Blood, Daredevil, The Punisher]: She’s a wonderful actress, she’s never turned in a bad performance and has always shown this sense of love in her characters that immediately grips an audience. She’s got this presence about her that kinda suggest angelic qualities, she no doubt could take the role and add her natural presence to it to give off the vibe of being someone you could love eternally and come back to life for. Placing her more ‘in action’ by having her encourage or advise Eric (as a vision of the crow) as a kind of Angel on the shoulder would only harden that impact of what Eric has lost and no one is better for that then Deborah.
Sherri [Height: 5’ 6”, Age: Teens]: A young girl who use to hang out with Eric and Shelly. She was devastated by the loss of her only friends and with her older sister’s continued decent into debauchery has broken her faith in people.
Sophia Lillis [Height: N/A, Age: 18, Notable Works: IT, IT Chapter Two, Gretel & Hansel]: Probably the best emerging actress of this oncoming generation. She’s a wonderful actress and if her work as Beverly in IT is anything to go by, she would draw out sympathy and understanding and create a full developed character through her appearances, and making the character one everyone remembers fondly.
Sandy [Height: 5’ 8”, Age: 30’s]: Sherri’s older sister, haven took custody of her after their mother died years ago. She’s barely held together emotionally as the responsibility of her sister has weighed her down and crushed her dreams, this leads to her to turn to debauchery to wash away her misguided pain. Originally she was Sherri’s mother in the comic.
Jena Malone [Height: 5’ 5”, Age: 35, Notable Works: Donnie Darko, Sucker Punch, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire]: One of my favorite actresses, Jena is absolutely wonderful performer and has done wonderful in all her appearances. I’ve never seen someone so broken and emotionally vulnerable as Sandy. She’s a fantastic actress and could do absolute wonders with the role.
Detective Hook [Height: 6’ 1”, Age: 40’s]: A detective who originally handled the murder of Eric and Shelly, unable to do little more than find a prime suspect. His failure of the case has hurt his views on the city as well as the job. The deaths of Eric and Shelby had caught up to him and cause him to break, changing the course of his life as a cop. Originally a minor appearing character in the comic as Captain Hook.
Mahershala Ali [Height: 6’ 2”, Age: 46, Notable Works: Moonlight, Green Book, True Detective]: By far one of the most talented and influential actors working today. He’s been working for years and has only began to get the role he deserves. He’s an actor that can always bring emotional intensity and draw sympathy and respect from the audience, making him perfect for a role like Detective Hook.
Detective Albrecht [Height: 5’ 10”, Age: 30’s]: Hook’s younger and inexperienced partner. He receives the initial call of a vigilante figure waging war on the gangland, dragging his partner deep into a case that unearths some buried trauma. Originally a minor appearing uniformed officer in comics.
Spencer Treat Clark [Height: 6’ 0”, Age: 32, Notable Works: Unbreakable, Animal Kingdom, Glass]: As an actor, I love his work. He’s always played unique characters and really fits the comic book version of Albrecht (who in the film borrowed heavily from a character called Captain Hook) and could turn the character into his own person.
Skull Cowboy [Height: N/A, Age: N/A]: A guide of the spirit world, acting on the will of the Crow and guiding Eric on his path of revenge. His job is too keep Eric on the path of revenge, forcing him to keep his pain as fuel for his crusade and bring him back to rest at the end of the week.
Ed Harris [Height: 5’ 9”, Age: 69, Notable Works: Apollo 13, Appaloosa, Westworld]: After seeing his chilling and menacing appearance in Westworld it was, it was pretty clear he had the right attributes to bring Skull Cowboy to life on the big screen.
Mr. Jones [Height: 5’ 10”, Age: 40’s]: A lowlife hood who works for T-Bird’s drug empire.
Quinton Jackson [Height: 6’ 1”, Age: 41, Notable Works: The Midnight Meat Train, The A-Team, Vigilante Diaries]: I love Rampage, and always seem to find a place for him in my cast. He’s a decent actor and would actually fit this movie and look extremely well, especially in a role like Jones.
Tin Tin [Height: 6’ 0”, Age: 30’s]: T-Bird’s top enforcer and a psychopath.
O’Shea Jackson [Height: 5’ 11”, Age: 29, Notable Works: Straight Outta Compton, Den of Thieves, Just Mercy]: He’s a great actor and is standing out pretty well as his career grows. He was remarkable in straight outta Compton and if he carried that energy over to playing Tin Tin he would be fantastic in the role.
Gideon [Height: 5’ 7”, Age: 50’s]: A pawnshop and fence for local hoods in the area. He’s got his own sordid sins that T-Bird uses to blackmail him into service.
Giovanni Ribisi [Height: 5’ 7”, Age: 45, Notable Works: Basic, Avatar, Sneaky Pete]: It’s going to be impossible to get anyone as perfect for Gideo as Jon Polito was, that being said there’s room to play with the role and the character can be redone and re-adapted to be more spiritually disgusting like he was in the comic. For a character that is creepy and unnerving as Gideon is, Giovanni Ribisi is absolutely perfect.
Funboy [Height: 6’ 1”, Age: 40’s]: A drug addict and wild card often there for T-Bird’s entertainment. He guides Sandy through his world of debauchery and self-hate in a party-driven lifestyle.
Joseph Gilgun [Height: 6’ 0”, Age: 36, Notable Works: Lockout, The Last Witch Hunter, Preacher]: I’m a massive fan of Gilgun’s work, and after seeing his range at play in The Preacher, there’s no doubt he could hit the role with a home run and have an absolute ball playing it.
Top Dollar [Height: 5’ 9”, Age: 30’s]: A lieutenant in T-Bird’s drug empire, more for the business than the chaos. Top is a coward at heart and is easily shaken.
David Hornsby [Height: 5’ 10”, Age: 44, Notable Works: Flags of our Fathers, Aliens vs Predator: Requiem, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia]: He’s best known for It’s Always Sunny but he has done some serious work and honestly, as much as he looks like the comic book character, it’s really hard not to just put him in the role.
Skank [Height: 5’ 9”, Age: 20’s]: A wild hood and drug dealer close to T-Bird. He works with a partner, Tom Tom, who is more authoritative over the two and participated in the rape and murder of Shelly and Eric.
Tyler James Williams [Height: 5’ 8”, Age: 27, Notable Works: Everybody Hates Chris, The Walking Dead, Whisky Cavalier]: He’s a great young actor who’s shown numerous dimensions as an actor, staring in a breakout role at a very young age and continuing to grow and expand his range. He’s a great actor and a role like this could help show what he’s capable off as an actor. There’s no doubt he could hit it out of the park and play a truly despicable villain.
Tom Tom [Height: 5’ 10”, Age: 20’s]: Skank’s partner and a top collector for T-Bird. His primary role involves collecting the drug money
Jessie T Usher [Height: 6’ 1”, Age: 28, Notable Works: Survivor’s Remorse, Shaft, The Boys]: He’s an absolute treat to watch in The Boys, and has show he can play morally corrupt individuals and would certainly stand out in the role. He’s a great actor and would stand out in the role.
Ugly Patrick [Height: 5’ 10”, Age: 40’s]: A street rat who know certain elements of T-Bird’s operation working for him in a minor capacity. He was key in setting up T-Bird’s safe house and remains one of few people who know where it is.
Jimmi Simpson [Height: 5’ 11”, Age: 44, Notable Works: It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, House of Cards, Westworld]: He’s really been making a mark and over the last few years he’s shown that he can do a lot of different things as an actor. A role like Ugly Patrick really plays off as a unkempt, unintelligent, gang member. It’s something very different for Simpson to do while adding to his resume as a great character actor.
Shelby The Giant [Height: 6’ 2”, Age: 40’s]: T-Bird’s bodyguard, another of the top enforcers and closest thing T-Bird has to a friend. He’s sadistic and a brawler with immense strength.
Bokeem Woodbine [Height: 6’ 0”, Age: 47, Notable Works: Fargo, Spider-Man Homecoming, Queen and Slim]: Immediately the first person I thought of for the role. He’s a great actor and would be perfectly suited for the role.
T-Bird [Height: 6’ 0”, Age: 30’s]: Sadistic and emotionless leader of a drug empire and his own personal gang. He likes to kidnap and torture victims to his whims.
Demetrius Shipp Jr. [Height: 5’ 9”, Age: 31, Notable Works: All Eyez on Me, All American, Cut Throat City]: He’s a great actor. He knocked it out of the park in All Eyez on Me, and continues to stand out in his work. He’s a great actor that could certainly tap into the coldness and carelessness of T-Bird and create a truly sinister villain.