The two will play Eric Draven and Shelly, respectively. Here’s some solid casting: Jack Huston and Jessica Brown Findlay will star in the upcoming remake of The Crow. As Variety reports, Huston, best known for portraying the scarred Richard Harrow in HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, will play the film’s titular hero, Eric Draven. While Findlay has been cast as his ill-fated lover, Shelly.
Based on James O’Barr’s epic graphic novel, the story takes place on Devil’s Night, when Eric Draven and his fiancee Shelly are horrifically murdered at the hands of a merciless gang. A year later, Draven rises from the dead to enact his revenge upon his own killers, taking them out one by one as the crow follows near.
The original 1994 film, directed by Alex Proyas, was marred in tragedy when its leading star Brandon Lee was shot on set from what was supposed to be a prop gun. Nevertheless, the film became a cult classic and spawned several sequels and even a television series.
The upcoming reboot has been in development hell for almost a decade. Originally, it was a project for director Stephen Norington (Blade), and then Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (28 Weeks Later), and then F. Javier Gutierrez (Before the Fall). The lead role was similarly juggled around between the likes of Bradley Cooper, James McAvoy, Alexander Skarsgaard, Tom Hiddleston, Norman Reedus, and most recently, Luke Evans.
Currently, director Corin Hardy (The Hallow) and screenwriter Cliff Dorfman (Warrior) are attached to the project. Filming is to begin later this year.