After two lackluster weeks at the box office, The Crow is eyeing a franchise-low global milestone. Led by Bill Skarsgård as the titular undead vigilante, the reimagining of James O’Barr’s graphic novel of the same name has endured as rocky of a road in theaters as it did in its development, garnering primarily negative reviews from critics and opening to $4.6 million at the box office, shy of its $6-9 million projections. In the weeks since, The Crow has only grossed a worldwide total of $18.5 million, well short of its reported $50 million production budget.
Now, Collider is reporting that The Crow‘s box office woes are continuing, as the movie has dropped to a $59-per-theater average. Though projections for the weekend of September 6-8 have yet to be shared, the ongoing success of Deadpool & Wolverine and the newly released Beetlejuice Beetlejuice do point toward the movie being unlikely to regain any footing at the box office. As such, The Crow is likely to fall short of even the lowest-grossing installment in the franchise, setting a new low for the series.
How The Crow 2024’s Box Office Compares To The Rest Of The Franchise So Far
Skarsgård’s Movie Has A Long Road To Surpassing The Lowest-Grossing
Though the movie’s chances at success already seemed slim given its extended tenure in development hell, The Crow‘s box office run thus far has proven largely disappointing. Beyond failing to reach its projections, the movie also couldn’t claim the No. 1 spot at the box office in its opening weekend, instead finishing eighth, while Deadpool & Wolverine and Alien: Romulus took the first and second spots. It also fell well short of the original’s $11.7 million opening, which would be $35.5 million when adjusted for inflation.
In looking at the franchise as a whole, though, The Crow‘s opening weekend was only the start of the movie’s box office woes. As of now, Skarsgård’s comic book reimagining is the lowest-grossing installment in the series, even with only two of the prior four movies being released in theaters while the others were straight-to-video. See how 2024’s The Crow compares to the rest of the franchise on both Rotten Tomatoes and at the box office in the chart below:
|
Title |
RT Critics Score |
RT Audience Score |
Box Office |
|---|---|---|---|
|
The Crow (1994) |
87% |
90% |
$94 Million |
|
The Crow: City of Angels |
14% |
40% |
$25.3 Million |
|
The Crow: Salvation |
18% |
43% |
N/A (Direct-To-Video) |
|
The Crow: Wicked Prayer |
0% |
34% |
N/A (Direct-To-Video) |
|
The Crow (2024) |
23% |
64% |
$18.5 Million (As Of 9/7/2024) |
What The Crow’s Box Office Means For The Franchise’s Future
O’Barr’s Comic Book May Go Back To Being Dormant
While it’s unclear where The Crow‘s box office will land by the end of its theatrical run, the rate it’s going at does seem to point to it failing to even match City of Angels‘ modest $25.3 million haul. If this proves to be the case, it seems likely that the Crow franchise will return to its dormancy for the foreseeable future. Though the original movie was a hit for its time, it’s still been deemed a cult classic by the masses, with Brandon Lee’s unfortunate death during filming seen as being a large part of its success.
Even still, major Hollywood studios are always hopeful to build franchises off of tentpole releases like The Crow, with Skarsgård even having indicated ahead of the reimagining’s release that the ending was changed to leave the door open for a sequel. Director Rupert Sanders even confirmed talks have happened for The Crow 2, though his comments came from an interview conducted prior to the movie’s release, as such, making it just as likely that those conversations have died down after the movie’s lackluster reception.
That being said, the potential saving grace for The Crow could be streaming. Some reports have indicated that Lionsgate only acquired Skarsgård’s reimagining for $10 million, thus alleviating them of the $50 million production budget. With streaming often carrying movies to wider success beyond their initial theatrical runs, the ardent defenders of The Crow may very well carry it enough to a similar cult classic status as Lee’s original that nets it a sequel.
Source: Collider
