Jack Huston Departs "Crow" Remake, Studio Now Eyeing Nicholas Hoult

 

Variety has learned that the remake of "The Crow" has lost another leading man. Director Corin Hardy has released a statement confirming that Jack Huston ("Boardwalk Empire") will no longer head up the film's cast.

“Jack Huston is unfortunately unavailable to continue with us on The Crow,” said Hardy in a statement. “‘The Crow’ is an amazing project, and I am grateful that we have the time and patience to get it right. We look forward to unveiling our new lead and starting to film over the next several weeks.”

Huston joined the cast of "The Crow" back in March following the departure of original leading man Luke Evans in January.

“Jack is a remarkably gifted actor, and we look forward to working with him in the future,” said a statement from Relativity Studios. “Corin Hardy has a tremendous vision for 'The Crow,' and we are working closely with him to continue prepping the movie and supporting him as he brings his vision to the big screen.”

Variety notes that Relativity Studios already has their sights on two possible replacements for the lead role: Nicholas Hoult and Jack O'Connell. Hoult has seen his star rise considerably over the past few years thanks to portraying Beast in "X-Men: First Class" and "X-Men: Days of Future Past," as well as his recent turn as the Warboy Nux in "Mad Max: Fury Road." O'Connell previously portrayed Calisto in the comic adaptation "300: Rise of an Empire."

Additionally, Forest Whitaker is mentioned as possibly being added to the cast, although that could fall through as the actor has just reportedly joined the cast of the standalone Star Wars film"Rogue One."

Original "Crow" creator James O'Barr has been on board with the project from the beginning, promising that the project will hew closer to his original comic. “We’re not remaking the movie, we’re re-adapting the book," said O'Barr in a previous interview. "My metaphor is that there is a Bela Lugosi 'Dracula' and there’s a Francis Ford Coppola 'Dracula,' they use the same material, but you still got two entirely different films. This one’s going to be closer to 'Taxi Driver' or a John Woo film, and I think there’s room for both of them -- part of the appeal of the 'Crow' comics after all is that they can tell very different stories after all.”