Director Alex Proyas Calls 'The Crow' Remake "Unnecessary"

The past week must've been rough for director Alex Proyas. His career has had its ups and downs, including his scrapped adaptation of Paradise Lost, but these last few days, in particular, haven't been great. Critics ripped Gods of Egypt apart and audiences didn't show up for the pricey adventure movie.

Following the disastrous opening, Proyas then wrote a Facebook post criticizing reviewers of his latest, making both fair and unfair points. As the director mentioned, even two of his most beloved movies, Dark City and The Crow, weren't huge hits with critics during their theatrical releases. The latter even became a big enough hit that it has been gearing up for a remake for years — which Proyas would rather not see happen.

Check out the Gods of Egypt director's thoughts on the remake below.

The Crow remake has been delayed again and again, losing start dates, actors, and directors. Last summer, the film was delayed due to Relativity's Bankruptcy. Based on James O'Barr's graphic novel, we heard the Corin Hardy-directed (The Hallows) remake would shoot this month, but after actor Jack Huston's (Boardwalk Empire) departure, a replacement for the lead role has yet to be found.

Speaking with Collider, the outlet asked the director for his thoughts on the remake:

You know, I've moved on and I just feel like it's... I personally feel like it's kind of unnecessary. I've said this many times, I've completed the original movie to honor Brandon and that's the sole reason I did it. I'm happy I did it for that reason. I sort of feel like it's his legacy and I personally don't have a lot of time for people trying to reignite that movie in other ways. So you know, to me, this is one situation where it would be nice if Hollywood kind of left it alone and let it remain Brandon Lee's legacy. I know every few years you hear about it a remake and it never really comes to fruition.

Proyas' original film holds up remarkably well, but that'll never be enough to stop a remake. Although it'd be nice if "Hollywood" let The Crow remain Brandon Lee's legacy, they've already made plenty of crappy direct-to-DVD sequels. A big-screen remake directed by Corin Hardy can't get much worse than those sequels, right? Hardy exhibited a fine eye for atmosphere in The Hallows, so we can at least expect a remake more refined than The Crow films that followed Poryas' original adaptation.

Also, for all of you Gods of Egypt fans out there, the director shared another interesting bit of news with Collider: an early cut, not an assembly cut, was three hours long. The director is hoping to release a director's cut one day, but a lot of the special effects were left unfinished, due to time and budget restraints. I've yet to see the film, but if I was going to, I'd certainly much rather see Proyas' original cut.