The spirit of vengeance goes on a time-traveling journey this December as IDW Publishing has announced that ‘The Crow’s original creator, James O’Barr will be launching a brand-new story featuring the vengeful avian guide, The Crow: Skinning the Wolves, a three-issue miniseries set to debut this December. Fans of O’Barr’s dark signature style will be delighted to see him backed by co-artist Jim Terry with a story woven of the same supernatural mystique that made The Crow a favorite of fans worldwide.

“I’ve been wanting to see a new Crow project from James O’Barr for a lot longer than we’ve had the Crow license,” said Chris Ryall, IDW’s Chief Creative Officer/Editor-in-Chief, “and what James has lined up for Skinning the Wolves and beyond is definitely delivering on those expectations.”

Set in a European concentration camp in 1945, Skinning the Wolves investigates a world where the dark harbinger of vengeance is dispatched in response to one of history’s greatest atrocities and the ultimate evil that perpetrated it.

“This is a story I’ve had planned for ages; 20 years maybe. It’s a tough tightrope to walk, using a concentration camp as a setting for a story, but I took care in not exploiting the situation for entertainment purposes. I did layouts and a rough story outline, but got sidetracked with the increasing popularity of the original film and graphic novel of ‘The Crow’ and never found the time to finish it,” said O’Barr. “I met Jim Terry a few years ago and was really truly impressed with his Eisneresque style and thought it would be perfect for him. He’s gone above and beyond my expectations and I’m very proud of him and this book.”

“I couldn’t have asked for a better story to work on, and it has been thrilling to see it develop into what I feel will be a truly special book,” said Terry. “There are many, many titles on the stands these days, but I believe Skinning the Wolves will be different from them all–not from a place of hubris, but from genuine excitement over what it’s become.”

Full of the dark, challenging questions and ideas that have propelled ‘The Crow’ to international acclaim, Skinning the Wolves is sure to be a gritty spectacle; one not to be missed by any comics fans, macabre justice enthusiasts, or those in between.

Veteran producer Edward R. Pressman, producer of the 1994 smash hit film ‘The Crow’, together with Relativity Media and Dimension Films, is at work on a reinvention of the original film, which explores its own unique storyline separate from the comic book, with F. Javier Gutierrez (Before the Fall) attached to direct from a screenplay by Jesse Wigutow and Marc Klein. Pressman licensed the comic book rights to IDW. The deal was brokered by Dan Kletzky of Entertainment Licensing Associates.

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The reboot of The Crow is taken from the shadows and given the chance to shine once more. The film is based upon a comic book by James O’Barr. It is about a rock guitarist named Eric Draven, who is witness to his fiancée’s murder by thugs, then killed right, after by viciously thrown out of his apartment window. A year later on Devil’s Day, a day when thugs come out and rule the streets, Eric Draven rises from the dead to avenge his own, and his fiancée’s deaths.

The last four sequels to The Crow have all been duds compared to the original. The first installment starred the late Brendon Lee, Bruce Lee’s son, who died on The Crow’s set by a bullet wound in the abdomen by a dummy bullet. The bullet, lodged in the barrel of the gun by previous usage, went undetected. When shot, the bullet unlodged and entered Brandon Lee’s stomach and hit his spinal cord. Even with his tragic death, the movie was hailed for its action sequences as well as for its gritty, gothic production design.

With the reboot, the creators were going to take a different approach toward the design. Stephen Norrington was supposed to be the director, but due to creative differences, was replaced by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (28 Weeks Later). Fresnadillo is to complete his most recent work Intruders soon but has many other upcoming projects like House of Horror and The Monkey’s Paw. In order for him to work on The Crow, he will have to drop one of his projects.

The real question that floated around for some time is what will happen to the script? Nick Cave wrote the original script for Norrington, but with the movie changing hands to Fresnadillo, the original was entirely rewritten by Alex Tse, the writer for Watchmen. Tse does not have a lot experience as Watchmen is his only well known project.

As for the cast, the main question is who will play the main character and rumor has it that Mark Walberg turned down an offer for the lead. Recently, it seems like Bradley Cooper will get the role.

The Crow would have been shooting already if it were not for the lawsuits that followed the story around. Relatively Studios wanted to distribute the movie to other distribution branches rather than use the Weinstien Company. This was due to Weinstein botching the release of Relativity’s movie Nine which bombed at the box office. Weinstein claimed that this was a breach of contract. However, the courts sided with Relitivity and now Weinstein will try to defend themselves in an arbitration as Relitivity tries to get the contract nullified, allowing Relitivity to distribute the movie through another company.

Even with all the changes and lawsuits, The Crow will be interesting to see. Some were upset about the reboot. They believe that Hollywood should just let the cult classic stay as it is.  But others felt there was no harm in making one more.  Hollywood already made four inauspicious sequels if they want to make a lousy fifth one then that is fine. Who knows, it might be better than the first. It is still in development, but it is one project that is worth keeping eyes on to see how the production will play out.

Due to lawsuits, Norrington leaving and having to draft a new script, the movie in the development stage for way too long. It has been drastically changed, and there have been so many disputes over the movie.  The real question is not who will star in it or who will distribute it. The real question is will The Crow reboot ever take flight?

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