The Crow Starring Eminem and 2 Other Insane Sequels We Never Saw

30 years ago, The Crow was released. The adaptation of James O'Barr's comic book about a young man who rises from the dead to avenge his murdered bride became a cult classic, not only because of its stylish gothic atmosphere, but also because of the tragic death of its star, Brandon Lee.

Some fans consider Alex Proyas' creation cursed, and the troubled fate of its sequels – many of which never saw the light of day – only proves it.

1. The Bride

The success of the original The Crow inspired producers to develop sequels. This time, director Alex Proyas was adamant – they failed to involve him in the work on the sequels. But James O'Barr sketched out a synopsis for the second part.

According to the plot, in the 1970s, Chicago was shaken by the news that a woman had been killed by a gang of criminals at her own wedding. One of the guests was a policeman and brought his service weapon to the party – 13 people were killed in the shootout, including the newlyweds.

The backbone of the plot was almost unchanged: a woman killed at a wedding returns from the dead to take revenge. O'Barr's ideas did not please the studio bosses – Miramax rejected his ideas.

2. The Crow 3: Resurrection

The third part was never in the studio's plans – the mixed reaction to City of Angels seemed to put an end to possible sequels. Everything changed when the script of the action movie Ballistic fell into the hands of producer Edward Pressman – the owner of the rights to The Crow.

Ballistic was supposed to be a classic action movie, but without a drop of fantasy; a story about a cop working undercover. A colleague hands him over to criminals, who shoot him and leave him for dead. But the cop wakes up after five years in a coma and sets out to restore justice.

Pressman immediately saw a familiar resurrection motif – all that was left was to add a crow. But Pressman was never able to bring this action to the screen – Warner Bros. wanted too much money for the rights to Ballistic.

3. The Crow: Lazarus

Almost immediately after the premiere of The Crow: Salvation, news of a possible fourth part appeared – rapper DMX signed a contract to film the story of two murdered rappers, good and evil, who return to life to fight for power over the world of hip-hop.

DMX was to play the role of the main character, and Eminem was to play the role of his adversary. In order to fit their confrontation into the script, albinos were added to the plot – birds that resurrect sinners to fuel the endless conflict between chaos and order. Young Eminem was to become one of these warriors of evil.