MOVIE NEWS – It was revealed what a drastic step was taken on the set of The Crow to prevent history from repeating itself…

Rupert Sanders’ reimagining of The Crow hits theatres today – here’s our crisp, fresh review! Before the North American premiere, the director revealed that the film adaptation of the comic book series differs from the 1994 film in one important way: no real weapons were allowed on set. Starring Bill Skarsgård, FKA Twigs and Danny Huston, The Crow centres on a resurrected musician seeking revenge for the death of his fiancee.

Speaking to Variety ahead of the premiere of The Crow, Sanders said that safety was a priority on the set of the film. Having learned from past tragedies, such as Brandon Lee’s untimely death on set in 1994 or the recent death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust 2021, the director says that despite how good the special effects team was, he didn’t want to risk.

“Safety is the number one priority. Film sets are very dangerous.”

“The first day I met with the special effects department and the armorer, who was great, in Prague. They were very safety-conscious. They follow all the same guidelines as the military when dealing with weapons, but I didn’t even want to risk that.”

Accordingly, Sanders banned all real firearms from the set of The Crow to prevent history from repeating itself. Instead, he used rubber imitations instead of the real thing.

“So I said, categorically, ‘We will have no firing weapons on set,’ which means we didn’t have one gun that could have had a live round or a blank round anywhere near it ever, so that no projectile could go in. They’re all Airsoft guns, and some of them are just rubber or metal decoys that are functional but have no firing mechanism.”

The extra cost was a small price to pay for the safety of the cast of The Crow

Since Sanders has already directed some spectacular films – e.g. 2017’s Ghost in the Shell – knows a thing or two about VFX and how much it costs. Since The Crow was made on a limited budget of $50 million, there was already little money for special effects. So, banning real weapons from filming was a costly decision. But for him, it was a price worth paying if it meant everyone’s safety.

“It took a fair bit of money out of my very limited visual effects budget, but I think it was worth it. The visual effects on this movie were very much in-camera. We were mainly a location shoot with set extension. So you have to balance where you spend the money when you don’t have a massive budget to do visual effects. But to me, that was a very worthwhile spend for everyone’s safety and comfort going into this project.”

Despite the mixed reactions to The Crow’s trailer, the move definitely paid off as the scenes involving the guns look incredibly authentic. The Crow opens in Europe tonight, and in America on August 23, distributed by Lionsgate Films.

Source: Variety