Back in May, The Crow star Bill Skarsgård was quoted in an interview as saying that he would have "personally preferred something more definitive" for the movie's ending, which understandably led to speculation that Lionsgate's adaptation left the door open for a sequel.
While speaking to THR, director Rupert Sanders felt he needed to clear things up and clarify that the movie does not conclude on a "sequel bait" note.
“I’d love the audience to know that because it is important. We live in a world where people get a snippet of something and it’s magnified through a million clacking laptops, but no one really knows anything about substantiating what they are actually putting out there. The movie, I think, stands alone. I personally hate movies where you have to see the sequel. A movie should finish in a way that feels satisfactory to the story, and this movie does.”
Spoilers follow!
Even so, Sanders isn't completely ruling out the possibility of a sequel down the line.
“Can it continue for a second adventure? Yes. Bill’s Eric is an incredible character, and by the end of the movie, he’s become something new. In a way, it’s the origin story of a character like Batman, and I think Bill’s Dark Knight could very well be around the corner,” he adds. “The exciting idea of him moving between worlds and between life and death is fascinating. So there’s definitely a million versions of what that could be, but right now, my focus was on telling the story of Eric and Shelly and finishing that story in a very finite way.”
At the end of the movie, Eric Draven makes a deal to give his soul up for Shelly's, and his lover is resurrected while he remains in the underworld. It's certainly a more definitive conclusion than we were expecting, but with all the jumping back and forth between realms, it's entirely possible that Eric could return as Shelly's guardian angel in a follow-up.
That said, the chances of a sequel seem pretty slim given the movie's current box office prospects!
The synopsis reads: "Soulmates Eric Draven (Bill Skarsgård) and Shelly Webster (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."
The movie will also star Danny Huston, Laura Birn, Sami Bouajila, and Jordan Bolger in undisclosed roles. Zach Baylin and Will Schneider penned the script.
The new take on The Crow is now in theaters. Will you be giving a chance despite the negative reviews?