Bill Skarsgard Returns From The Dead In The Crow Trailer

It may be downright difficult to believe, but "The Crow" remake has finally happened. Yes, happened, not happening, as had been promised for so long. Lionsgate has now dropped the first trailer for the long-awaited new adaptation of the comic book by James O'Barr. After all these years, we are, at long last, going to see what Eric Draven looks like in a modern context a full 30 years after the first film arrived in 1994. Check it out for yourself above.

This time around, it's Bill Skarsgård, best known for his role as Pennywise the clown in the "It" movies, taking on the role of Eric Draven. Noticeably, his look is, well, different than what we've seen previously, most notably when the late Brandon Lee originated the role in director Alex Proyas' version of "The Crow." Whether that look is better or worse is a matter left to individual opinion, but it's certainly not a carbon copy of what came before, to say the very least. The official synopsis for the new film reads as follows:

Soulmates Eric Draven (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.

Rupert Sanders ("Snow White and the Huntsman") directed the remake, with Zach Baylin ("Gran Turismo") and William Schneider handling the screenplay. Danny Huston ("X-Men Origins: Wolverine"), Isabella Wei ("1899"), Laura Birn ("Foundation"), Sami Bouajila ("Ganglands"), and Jordan Bolger ("The Woman King") round out the cast.

There has been talk of a new "Crow" movie for a very long time. Various stars and filmmakers have come and gone over the years, only for the project to flame out before it could actually get before cameras. Rather famously, director Corin Hardy ("The Hallow") very nearly made a version in 2018 that would have starred Jason Momoa ("Aquaman"). That's just one example, but the remake dates back years before that. This is to say, it's been a long time coming.

1994's "The Crow" was a hit in its day but has found an even larger audience in the years since its original release. It is now celebrated as a movie that was very much ahead of its time. It's also sadly remembered more for the tragic death of its star Brandon Lee, who died in an on-set incident during filming.

Despite Lee's passing, a franchise sprang up in the years that followed, with "The Crow: City of Angels," "The Crow: Salvation," and "The Crow: Wicked Prayer" all arriving between 1996 and 2005. There was also a short-lived, oft-forgotten TV show called "The Crow: Stairway to Heaven." Now, the franchise will get a new shot at life with a new star and a new take on the material.

"The Crow" is set to hit theaters on June 7, 2024.