Relativity Studios is finally moving forward with a remake of 1994 cult classic The Crow, having set Boardwalk Empire alum Jack Huston to star alongside Jessica Brown Findlay (Downton Abbey). Tonight brings intriguing news that the project is about to cast another key role, albeit in a very different way than the original. Andrea Riseborough, hot off a succesful Oscar season with Best Picture victor Birdman (or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), is in talks to play the villainous Top Dollar in the redo, according to Deadline.
In the novel and the ’94 film, Top Dollar was the (male) leader of a criminal syndicate responsible for torturing then killing the girlfriend (Findlay) of former rock star Eric Draven (Huston). The Crow heats up when Draven comes back from the dead, resurrected thanks to a mysterious bird, to take vengeance on Top Dollar and the rest of the thugs. Michael Wincott played Top Dollar in the original film, so it will be very interesting to see how Riseborough reinterprets the role.
Claire Wilson penned the script for this new take, adapting James O’Barr’s graphic novel. Corin Hardy (The Hallow) is sitting in the director’s chair.
Relativity is banking on The Crow to launch a new franchise, hewing closely to O’Barr’s original work for the first installment then diverging for further adventures that depart from anything previously committed to celluloid. No date has been set for the pic, but it has the studio’s full backing and is expected to roll cameras sometime this year for release in 2016. We’ll keep you posted as we learn more.