For those who don’t know, there’s a dark history behind the Alex Proyas-directed adaptation of The Crow.

On March 31, 1993, star Brandon Lee died during filming in an accident that involved a prop gun. With the help of stunt doubles and special effects, Proyas was able to complete the film for release in 1994. It was a traumatic experience for Proyas, who had bonded greatly with the up-and-coming young star.

Now, 20-plus years later, Corin Hardy (The Nun) is set to direct a remake with “Game of Thrones” and Aquaman‘s Jason Momoa set to star as Eric Draven, a man who returns from the dead to track down his killers and avenge his murdered fiancé.

Proyas is greatly against the reboot, writing a lengthy plea on his Facebook page.

While we understand his emotional connection to the film and empathize with his grief, it’s hard to agree here. Firstly, The Crow wasn’t created by Lee or Proyas. The 1994 film was an adaptation of James O’Barr‘s comic character who first appeared in 1989. It was a direct and mostly faithful adaptation to his comic series, which led to various already released sequels. I think Proyas takes issue with the remake, as opposed to sequels, in that he believes Lee personified Eric Draven and made the character his. Unfortunately, it’s not… The Crow is O’Barr’s creation.

In fact, O’Barr openly stated that he’s not only behind the reboot, but also intimately involved. This is not to take anything away from Lee’s legendary and iconic performance (The Crow is one of the most popular Halloween costumes of all time), but it’s not really Proyas’ place to decide the future of the franchise, which is why he’s not involved. With that said, I really wish the filmmakers behind the forthcoming reinvention would have taken the fresh adaptation in a new direction by turning The Crow into a woman. No matter, it can’t rain all the time…

What do you think?