We’ve been covering the new The Crow movie for a long, long time now. At this point, I’ve lost track of how many times the filmmakers have tried to cast and re-cast the role of Eric Draven, but it started to seem like Luke Evans was the one who’d be in it for the long haul. However, after being attached to the film for about two years, he dropped out, bringing the production back to square one. But then, the producers wound up rebounding quickly, locking Jack Huston to assume the lead role and also recruiting Andrea Riseborough to put a new spin on the villain, Top Dollar. Things were looking good - that is until Huston dropped out.
While promoting Pride and Prejudice and Zombies at San Diego Comic-Con, I got the opportunity to ask Huston what happened. Here’s what he said:
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“I was so excited about it. I was so sad. I had a great relationship with everyone. Luckily that’s all fine. It’s a scheduling thing. It was just a scheduling conflict. We were all so jazzed to do it. It was one of the hard decisions that I, you know, one can’t do and luckily they’re brilliant and I just want them to just go and make a great movie so I’m just putting my heart out and saying I love everything about those guys.”
Scheduling conflicts do tend to be the go-to response when someone is asked about exiting a film, but based on how things have been going for The Crow, it does make a lot of sense that the timeline just didn’t work for Huston anymore. This is a project that’s been pushed and pushed and pushed, so when you’ve got a lead actor who’s becoming more and more in demand like Huston, it makes sense that at some point, you’ve got to cut the chord.
When Huston’s exit was announced in mid-June, director Corin Hardy said, “We look forward to unveiling our new lead and starting to film over the next several weeks,” so it does seem like things still will move forward. I’m a bit disappointed we won’t get to see Huston in the lead role, but if the rumors are true and Hardy is eyeing Nicholas Hoult or Jack O’Connell as a replacement, perhaps the film will be worth the wait.
