Warning: SPOILERS lie ahead for The Crow (2024)!
Summary
After starting off with some dismal reviews from critics, Bill Skarsgård’sThe Crowhas landed a far better audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie serves as a reimagining of James O’Barr’s iconic graphic novel of the same name, revolving around a man named Eric who, along with his girlfriend, is murdered by a crime lord, but brought back to life with supernatural powers in order to hunt down those responsible. Also starring FKA Twigs and Danny Huson,Skarsgård’sThe Crowhas gotten off to a rough start with critics, but a modest start at the box office, aiming for an opening weekend of $6-9 million.
With the movie now in theaters,Rotten Tomatoeshas calculated reviews from audiences forThe Crowand landed a debut score. With over 100 verified reviews,the 2024 reimagining holds a 64% approval rating from audiences on the review aggregateat the time of writing, tripling the critical score of just 21%. This also marks the franchise’s second-only Fresh score from audiences, behind the original’s 90%.
How Does 2024’s The Crow Compare To The Rest Of The Franchise?
The movie’s fairly positive audience score is a good sign for its box office.
Though the debut score is likely to fluctuate as more reviews come in,The Crow’s audience score is a generally positive signfor the reimagining’s ongoing reception. Up to this point,Brandon Lee’s cult classic originalis the only movie in the franchise to hold Fresh ratings from both critics and audiences, with subsequent installments being panned by critics and getting mixed reviews from audiences. See how 2024’sThe Crowcompares to the rest of the franchise on Rotten Tomatoes in the chart below:
86%
90%
14%
40%
18%
43%
0%
34%
21%
64%
GivenThe Crowhad a lengthy development cycle, in which everyone from Bradley Cooper to Jason Momoa were set to play the undead vigilante at various points, it may not come as much of a surprise that the movieis performing so poorly with critics. The writing seemed even further on the wall whenreviews for the reimagining were embargoed until the Thursday night of the movie’s release, a decision studios typically reserve for films they don’t have confidence in. Lionsgate took a similar approach with their other recent release,Borderlands, which similarly took a lashing from critics.
UnlikeEli Roth’sBorderlands, though,The Crow’s debut audience score on Rotten Tomatoes being Fresh marks a promising sign for its box office chances.Positive word of mouth from viewers is just as powerful as strong reviews from critics, and given Lionsgate only spent $10 million to acquire the film, and it has a $50 million production budget, it won’t require nearly as much money to breakeven for the studio. Additionally, with no major releases in the coming weeks untilBeetlejuice Beetlejuiceon September 6, Skarsgård’sThe Crowcould very well remain steady on box office charts and become a sleeper hit.
Could Bill Skarsgård Have A New Franchise On His Hands?
While he has starred in a variety of original titles throughout his career,The Crowcontinuesan interesting trend of Skarsgård bringing his acting talents to a range of franchises. His most famous role remains that ofPennywise the Clown in theITduology, though Skarsgård has also held leading and supporting roles in the likes ofDeadpool 2andJohn Wick: Chapter 4, among others. Check out the franchises Skarsgård has been involved in thus far in the charts below:
IT (2017)
IT: Welcome to Derry
Pennywise the Dancing Clown
Though plans for anAtomic Blonde 2remain in an unclear state of development after Netflix acquired the rights to it, he is still steadily building a roster of more action-oriented fare, includingfellow 2024 releaseBoy Kills World, whose director Moritz Mohr has also expressed interest in a sequel. The question now becomes whether the positive audience interest inThe Crowcould give Skarsgård a new franchise opportunity. In the time since this article was first written, the movie’s audience RT score has risen to 66% with over 250 verified reviews, indicating audiences are generally enjoying the reimagining.
The Crow 2 Should Only Happen On One Condition (Even If The 2024 Movie Is Great)
Time will tell if The Crow 2024 is a hit, but a sequel shold only happen if it explores a route that the other movies have avoided attempting.
Ultimately, the chances of a sequel toThe Crowwill come down to how the movie performs at the box office. Despite initial projections of $6-9 million, the movie is now only closing out its opening weekend with $4.6 million and the No. 8 spot, indicating a slow start to its financial run. Additionally, givenThe Crow’s ending largely concluded Eric’s story, save for a very brief tease of him retaining his powers in purgatory, the franchise’s potential return may be all but dead. Even still, with Skarsgård returning for theIT: Welcome to Derryprequel show, he at least has other franchise opportunities in his future.
The Crow
Cast
The Crow (2024) is a dark and gritty reimagining of the original graphic novel. It follows Eric, who is resurrected from the dead to avenge his and his soulmate’s brutal murders. Armed with supernatural abilities, Eric seeks justice against the killers responsible, navigating through a corrupt city that is as much a character as he is. This adaptation introduces new elements to captivate the modern audience!
