The Crow Remake Is Finally Here, And It's Bombing At The Box Office

This weekend marks the end of an era. A remake of 1994's "The Crow," which has been in development since at least 2008, has finally made it to theaters. Its odyssey saw four different directors come and go before it finally ended up in the hands of Rupert Sanders ("Ghost in the Shell"), and a string of actors attached to play protagonist Eric Draven — including Bradley Cooper, Luke Evans, and Alexander Skarsgård. "The Crow" took so long to finally make it to production that the starring role ended up passing to a younger Skarsgård (Bill, to be exact).

Now, "The Crow" has arrived and it's... bombing. Produced for $50 million, the movie is expected to gross just $5 million or less in its opening weekend, according to the Hollywood Reporter. On the box office charts, that will put it in a dismal seventh place as "Deadpool & Wolverine" reclaims the No. 1 spot. This marks back-to-back megabombs for distributor Lionsgate, whose recent video game adaptation "Borderlands" performed disastrously after landing in theaters a few weeks ago.

Besides box office hell, "The Crow" has something else in common with "Borderlands": very bad reviews. The critics embargo lifted after Thursday previews had already begun, which is never a good sign, and it's currently sitting at 21% on Rotten Tomatoes. In /Film's own review of "The Crow," Witney Seibold writes that aside from one fun sword-slaying sequence towards the end that uses "blades, bullets, and Skarsgård's lanky body to great, violent effect," the film is "dull, lifeless, hazy, and unmoving."

Still, at least after 16 years "The Crow" remake has finally flown over the finish line. 

The other major new release this weekend is "Blink Twice," the directorial debut from "The Batman" and "Fantastic Beasts" star Zoë Kravitz. This darkly comedic thriller stars Channing Tatum as a reclusive billionaire who invites waitress Frida (Naomi Ackie) and her friend Jess (Alia Shawkat) to take a spontaneous vacation on his luxurious private island. It's an offer that sounds too good to be true and, sure enough, things take a dark turn in paradise. 

"Blink Twice" had a more conservative budget than "The Crow" (around $20 million), and is off to a slightly better start at the box office with an estimated opening weekend between $7.1 and $7.4 million. It also has far better reviews than "The Crow," with a score of 79% on Rotten Tomatoes, and /Film's own BJ Colangelo describing it as "a genuine, jaw-dropping thrill ride, and the biggest surprise film of the year." Positive word of mouth (and some headline-making Discourse) could reward Kravitz's film with staying power in its sophomore weekend.