Photo credit: s_bukley / Shutterstock.com

The remake of ‘The Crow’ has annoyed many fans of the original film even though the premise of the remake was always that it would more closely follow the graphic novel by James O’Barr. So with that being said, this casting announcement almost appears to be a big slap in the face of everything the filmmakers have touted to date with regards to sticking to the creator’s original vision. What am I taking about? Well, currently Andrea Riseborough (‘Oblivion‘,’Birdman‘) is in talks to play the villain in the remake of ‘The Crow.’

Why the big deal about this particular casting announcement? As mentioned above, Riseborough is currently in talks to play Top Dollar who is the lead villain of the film. If she does end up with the role she will face off against Jack Huston (‘American Hustle’,’Outlander’) who is set to play Eric Draven in the film. The problem is, in the original film, Top Dollar was played by Michael Wincott and just like in the graphic novel he was, well, a HE.

Now I don’t mind gender swaps of characters being done, I really don’t. My problem is that when O’Barr got on board, it because the original director had said that he didn’t want to remake the original film that starred Brandon Lee as it was “perfect as it is.” The idea for this remake was to film O’Barr’s graphic novel “literally page-for-page” which O’Barr later followed up with the comment, “That got me intrigued – the idea of adapting it from page 1 and going from there”

It is hard to think that director Corin Hardy was the reason for the gender change, as he has also stated in the past that he would like to stay close to the source material:

“I’m very much going back to the graphic novel, particularly looking into the illustrations themselves as much as the story, and picking out all those beautiful ideas and details that haven’t really been used yet.”

If the entire point to date has been to follow the graphic novel then to change such a major character in it almost feels like backpedaling. I’m sure they will still follow the story where Top Dollar will run the crime syndicate that is ultimately responsible for the deaths that fuel Draven’s transformation into The Crow, but it just seems like a rather large change to be making.

What are your thoughts on Riseborough tackling the role of Top Dollar? Do you think she’ll make a great fit for the part? Share your thoughts below!

Source: Deadline