Exclusive: Comics2Film has learned that director Stephen Norrington is no longer attached to the planned Crow feature film, which was to revitalize the moribund franchise.
Norrington's attachment to the film was announced in December 2008. The director has given regular updates to C2F readers, dispelling the persistent rumor that the movie was to be a remake of Alex Proyas' breakout 1994 film. We last heard from him in July, when he gave us the details on Nick Cave's polish of his script.
When new rumors emerged that Mark Wahlberg has been offered the lead role in the film, we checked in with Norrington for comment.
"I don't know about that story but I can tell you I'm no longer involved with The Crow," Norrington replied.
He went on to reveal that an unnamed star had gotten involved with the movie. The star supposedly loved Norrington's vision and wanted to work with him, but then rejected the Norrington/Cave script and asked for a completely new take from a completely new writer.
"As I had gotten involved explicitly as a writer-director my exit was inevitable. I was bummed. I had developed a genuinely authentic take that respected the source material while moving beyond it, and Nick Cave came in and added more depth," Norrington tells us. "I think the fans would have been pleasantly surprised."
Norrington declined to name the "star" and his comments suggested to us that it may not have been Wahlberg.
