It wasn’t expected to soar to great heights, but Rupert Sanders’ The Crow remake surprised even its harshest critics, with how poorly it performed this past weekend.
We knew trouble was afoot with the project when the first trailer debuted back in March, and earned a 60% dislike ratio from viewers. At the time, this was the most disliked trailer on Lionsgate’s YouTube channel. However, The Crow has since been dethroned by 2024’s Borderlands.
Very soon after the trailer’s poor reception, the release date of June 7th was swiftly postponed to August 23rd. According to star Bill Skarsgard, this was to facilitate a round of reshoots that changed the movie’s ending, much to his chagrin.
However, it appears any evasive action has failed, as The Crow debuted to a paltry $5.1 million domestically. This fell far short of the $9 million Lionsgate initially hoped to take in from the opening weekend.
Internationally, The Crow fared even worse, bringing in just $4.5 million from multiple markets, for a total weekend gross of $9.6 million. Budgeted at a painful $50 million, it is estimated The Crow will lose Lionsgate $25 million when all is said and done. This is not the best news for the studio, who are currently trying to recover from the severe underperformance of Borderlands earlier this month.
Critically, The Crow has been mercilessly lashed, most calling the film “unnecessary,” and some labelling it’s execution “disastrous for all involved.” However, perhaps the most damning summation comes from Alex Proyas, director of the cult-classic 1994 original. Although Proyas has refused to see the reboot, citing his respect for the late Brandon Lee, the filmmaker was contacted for comment following The Crow’s box-office failure. In a statement, Proyas said the following:
“I always thought it was a cynical cash-grab. But there’s not much cash to grab, it seems.”
Well… what else is there to say? Except we’re assuming those sequel hopes Skarsgard disagreed with were nixed.
