Caffeinated Clint
Eleven years after he first took flight with the first film adaptation of “The Crow”, Producer Jeff Most is still flying with the birds. The gifted producer/writer is seemingly still right at home on the wing of a tweeting avenger making “The Crow: Wicked Prayer”, the latest chapter in the comic-turned-film series, a no-brainer. Clint Morris talks to one of the visionaries behind the extraordinarily successful “Crow” series about what makes the franchise fly, and when he believes the incessantly airborne bird will descend.
The “Crow” comic had was still hot from the presses when Jeff Most discovered it. “In 1989 I was looking for a comic book artist to illustrate a screenplay that I had commissioned from John Shirley – who I had worked with for years, and turned his ‘Specialist’ novels into The Specialist movie starring Sylvester Stallone and Sharon Stone – I believed this script deserved to be turned into a comic book, as well as a film”, recollects Most, on the line from Los Angeles. “During my search – and Jonathan’s search – for a comic book artist for the project I was recommended to take a look at The Crow, a comic which had just come out, and was immediately taken by it. It reminded me a lot of the world I had been living in in the lower East-Side in East Village, in New York, where I had been going to NYU film school, and I also liked the urban grittiness of it. As much as I liked the idea of working with James O’Barr on the john Shirley project, The Crow grabbed me, and that’s the one that I decided I really wanted to make into a movie”.
“The Crow”, released in 1994, was a dark gothic thriller centred on a man brutally murdered, who comes back to life as an undead avenger – Crow in tow – of his and his fiancée’s murder.
The film was a staggering success, but believe it or not, Most found the film a harder sell than froth-less beer.
“Thought I was quite well-known at the time, and knew a lot of executives at studios, I was repeatedly turned down to get the project financed. People considered it way too dark, and at the time, the only comic book successes, at their darkest, was the first Batman film. Nothing other than a PG-13 film had been adapted from a comic. It was a difficult endeavour…when I counted it up at one point, I think I was turned down 51 times.”
The 52nd meeting was with Ed Pressman, who felt Most had something, and judiciously gambled on the celluloid transfer.
March 31st, 1993. The film was in production, all was going well, and then, the inconceivable happened. The film’s star, Brandon Lee, was tragically killed on-set in a freak accident.
Ironically filming his characters death scene at the time, Lee was shot and killed when a prop-gun being used in the sequence inconceivably fired a real round. The gun was stymied.
“It was unbelievable, nothing could’ve prepared me, or for anyone that had worked with Brandon, for that”, says an understandably still-shaken Most. “He was one of the most wonderful individuals I had ever met – it’s very difficult for me to put into words. He was wonderful, sweet, adorable, loving and yet, a strong, brilliant man. He absolutely was just a man well beyond his years – his understanding of cinema, of literature, and of acting – and his determination of thrusting himself into the world of The Crow was amazing. He was my guiding light. He was a real visionary. He is someone I truly treasure”.
The film was finished, despite Lee’s death, and served as a tribute to it’s fallen star. “It’s thanks to [Director] Alex Proyas that the film was finished. We didn’t have to finish the film, but we had come so close that it…we were at Day 49 of our original 51 day schedule, and we had the opportunity to do it….Alex’s original inclination was not to finish the film, it was at the request of Linda Lee, Brandon’s mother, and Shannon Lee, Brandon’s mother, and Eliza, Brandon’s fiancée, who all knew how proud Brandon was of his work and thought that this should really stand as a testament to his legacy, that we did. It was through their efforts – that we finished the film”.
“The Crow” caught on with audiences – no doubt, largely due to Lee’s presence in the film, as well as the captivating storyline – and a franchise was cooking, with Most again steering the ship.
“We did The Crow City of Angels, which was thematically tied to the first film”, says Most. “Then, we decided with the second sequel, The Crow Salvation, which starred Kirsten Dunst and Eric Mabius, to depart from The Crow and The Crow City of Angels [storyline] and firmly establish the franchise as an anthological franchise that could see Crow’s coming to be in any environment.”
The storyline of the first film was still something that interested Most though, and it was resurrected for the TV series spin-off, “The Crow: Stairway to Heaven”, with Mark Dacascos playing the role of Eric Draven, as played by Lee in the film.
“He did a phenomenal job”, says Most. “The series was really successful. We did twenty-two episodes, and I remember, as we were nearing the end of the first season, we had received word from the head of Polygram TV that because of the success of the show we were going to go five-years, or five-seasons, rather – which, wow, was just fantastic news. A few weeks later, Polygram was bought by Universal – and at that point in time, Universal had really gotten out of the TV business and had sold their TV business to USA network, and they were at capacity, and didn’t feel the need to continue the show”.
Thankfully, there was room to continue the series on the big screen.
For the newest “Crow” outing, “The Crow: Wicked Prayer”, Most decided that it should be a very unique, stand-alone film, with no association whatsoever to the first film or abovementioned TV series. He cast the very un-action hero like Edward Furlong in the lead role, and renowned good-guy David Boreanaz, of TV’s “Angel”, in the role of the villain.
“One of the things that attracted us about doing Wicked Prayer was that it’s very distinctly different – for instance, it’s set in the dessert and it involves Native American Indians. Although our film is inspired by the book – by James O’Barr – the novel and the film differ in a couple of ways: The book didn’t have a powerful enough dramatic context for a Crow film, and the villains are unique and original to the film. I think they’re perhaps the most interesting of any of the villains that we’ve had. As a group of villains go, these are guys who have found themselves doing something which they never expected to be doing and even have some humanity for murderers, which you wouldn’t normally find in a film of this type.”
Furlong, of “Terminator 2” fame, may sound like a perculiar choice, but Most says it made all the sense in the world to cast someone who looks more like the kid-next-door then a brooding, built action hero.
“Eddie was right at the top of our list. We had one thing in mind – we wanted a great actor, and we didn’t want to go the typical Hollywood way of getting the guy with the biggest muscles or your Schwarzenegger type – or a guy like that. The idea that the hand of god lets you return on the wings of a crow, that could mean anyone can come back as an avenging angel and can go about their mission without having bulk or muscle. He’s [Furlong] a great actor and is young, and exciting, and is someone who has the acting chops to pull off this particular role, which is a decidedly different role”.
Unlike the original chaps behind the “Crow” make-up, our latest male protagonist isn’t so squeaky clean – he’s got his ghosts too.
“This is a different Crow”, explains Most. “This is a crow who has committed wrongs – he is not a pure innocent. In order to make the role both compelling and sympathetic, as well as represent the elements of the Crow, we needed somebody who we thought could embody those things. He needed to have a bit of a bad boy streak, as well as be a bit of hero in, and at the same time, a compelling, romantic lead.”
“The Crow : Wicked Prayer” is getting a straight-to-video release, but Most says always envisioned it going to theatres, and is a little disappointed the studio isn’t giving it a better run.
“Quite frankly, we didn’t make it as a direct to DVD release – I think we’ve got just got caught up in the Miramax/Disney divorce”, says Most. “We were not even given the opportunity to have the film tested – I think it would have tested exceedingly well in test groups – and there was a great marketing angle – we had the most high profile cast going into this movie. We had the biggest cast. Unfortunately I think we just delivered our film at a very inopportune time.”
Having said that, does that put a nail in a coffin for any future “Crow” instalments?
“I think it will boil down to what fans think of this film”, says Most. “Just because this one went direct to video, doesn’t mean the next one has to – case in point, Dimension’s Halloween H20. The three sequels before that went straight to video, and then H20 did 140 million dollars worldwide or something. It really becomes a matter of studios supporting the film”.
One rumour doing the rounds is that the Crow could be wearing an evening gown, next time around.
“We’ve talked about a female Crow – that’s something we’ve wanted, and have talked for a great deal of time about. We’ve talked about an African American Crow, we’ve talked about setting The Crow not just in America, but also outside of America, – there’s obviously many, many ways to go. I think The Crow concept is one that’s very vital, very strong, and very heartfelt – the notion of poetic justice, putting things right. I don’t think there’s a need to limit us from a fifth Crow, I’d really like to see the franchise continue, but really, it’s up to the fans”.
Outside of “The Crow” universe, Most has several projects on the boil, including another comic-inspired film, “Razor”. “Razor was the top-selling female heroine comic throughout the nineties. At one point, they mixed Razor with The Crow, and that was a number one book for some time. That’s something I’m actually working on right now. I also just co-wrote a romantic comedy, and also I’m working on a remake of The Tenth Victim, which I’m producing with Ed Pressman, who I did The Crow films with, and I’m very excited about that”.
No doubt just as excited as fans are to see the long-awaited “Crow : Wicked Prayer”, about to soar onto DVD.
THE CROW : WICKED PRAYER is released July 19
– CLINT MORRIS
