The Crow star Brandon Lee was killed in a tragic accident while filming his lead role as Eric Draven in Alex Proyas' beloved adaptation of James O'Barr's graphic novel back in 1993, and some new details on the series of genuinely shocking mistakes that led to the actor's death have now come to light.
Director Dwight H. Little, who worked with Lee on Rapid Fire, recently released a memoir called Still Rolling: Inside the Hollywood Dream Factory, and one chapter focuses on what happened the day Lee died.
Though some of this was already public knowledge, Little was able to uncover some new information, and you may find yourself shaking your head in disbelief while reading through the list of oversights involved.
Check out the excerpts (via JoBlo.com) below.
“The tragedy was so eerie with the death of his father, also at such a young age. I went to the memorial service where Melissa Etheridge sang ‘Ain’t It Heavy.’ On top of everything else, Brandon was engaged to be married. … All these years later, these are the ‘facts’ that I have been able to gather, though I’m not sure I have the full story.
The night before the accident, the second unit was doing some shots on a different set from the main unit. There was a big (close-up) shot looking up the barrel of a gun. The camera people were worried that the barrel might seem to be empty, so a ‘slug’ or ‘dummy bullet’ of some kind was put into the barrel to keep light from getting through. When the second unit wrapped, the gun was put away for the night. No one remembered to take out the slug. When the first unit needed the gun the next day, it was taken out and a blank charge was put in for a set-up. No one from the first unit crew knew that the slug had been put in the night before and no one checked. When the actor aimed the gun at Brandon, the blank went off and the slug discharged. The slug hit Brandon in a main artery in his abdomen and he lost consciousness almost immediately.
Two things. One, the prop man or AD always looks down the barrel of the gun to see that it is clear. (The prop man is obliged to show the director that the gun barrel is empty.) Two, the actor with the gun is instructed to never aim the gun at the other actor directly. The shot is always supposed to be ‘off angle’ and the lens and composition makes it ‘look like’ the gun is aimed properly. How all these mistakes could have been made in succession is almost impossible to imagine. The odds of Brandon being shot and killed by this forgotten slug were so long that of course the speculation about a ‘curse’ began.“
As hard as it may be to comprehend all of these missteps happening in succession, we now know that this sort of negligence is far from an isolated incident, with Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed having just been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter after cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was shot and killed on set when star Alec Baldwin fired what he believed to be a blank in her direction.
A remake of The Crow is on the way from Lionsgate, but the first official stills have not gone over very well with fans.
"The night before his wedding, musician Eric Draven (Brandon Lee) and his fiancée are brutally murdered by members of a violent inner-city gang. On the anniversary of their death, Eric rises from the grave and assumes the gothic mantle of the Crow, a supernatural avenger. Tracking down the thugs responsible for the crimes and mercilessly murdering them, Eric eventually confronts head gangster Top Dollar (Michael Wincott) to complete his macabre mission."