Where has the support for The Crow gone?

It seems that the takers that lined up to carry on the stories of The Crow were not in it for the duration. The Crow “curse” apparently has carried over into the latest projects that have been created. The television series, “The Crow: Stairway To Heaven”, built a loyal fan base and had numbers that guaranteed a renewal. That is, until Universal came in and bought Polygram. Universal, after much bantering and negotiating, killed the show. The creators of STH were not willing to compromise the integrity of the show for Universal.  To give you some perspective, recent shows like “Beast Master” and “Lost World”, both syndicated and with the same numbers as STH, were renewed for a second season. What these recent series have, and what STH lacked, was support by distributors. It seems Universal is ‘family' oriented in their vision and STH lacked that “Leave it to Beaver” quality. Pressman tried to acquire the rights from Universal but, in the end, Universal wanted too much money and Pressman lacked the backing to get us a second season for fall 1999. We have heard promises that 2000 will mark the return of STH. Seeing is believing. The next blow to Crow fans came with The Crow comics put out by Image. The first three issues had such promise.  The stories afterward were rushed and key premises left unexplored. The comics were canceled after volume 10, due to failing support of the readers. It really was a shame to watch issue after issue of The Crow comics relegated to nothing more than an outlet for advertising other Image products and the money spending exploits and hobbies of its owner.  We were told that a three issue Crow Magazine was in the works. These magazines would compile the stories from the 10-volume set, along with images and interviews from previous and future Crow projects. It has recently been reported the magazines have been delayed and possibly will not be produced.  During the production of STH and the Image comics, we were tantalized with images and reports from the upcoming feature release of “The Crow: Salvation”. Now that even seems to be in doubt. Salvation is now one of he longest post-production projects in the last 5 years. Principle photography wrapped in March of 1999. Initially, a Halloween release was reported but that was pushed out to spring of 2000. All publications since January 2000 reported March 31^st was to be the official date. But again, that has been changed to sometime in May. It is very interesting that a movie like “X-Men” can be in theaters within 4 months of wrapping principle photography and it will take Salvation 14 months if it isn't pushed out further than May.  Instead of taking advantage of a slow month for movies in March, not to mention Springbreak, Dimension has decided to push out the movie into the teeth of the summer blockbusters. Is this what you do with a movie you want to succeed? There have been no TV ads or previews in theaters to get ready for the movie. Just articles in trade magazines, most of which, we have seen in countless other publications.  Most of the movies scheduled to come out months later than Salvation have a preview in theaters already.  The distributors of the recent movie “Snowday” seem to know more about marketing. They did some very smart TV promotions for their movie in advance of its release. Due to this promotion, and getting the movie out in February, they have turned a modestly budgeted movie into a 50million-dollar hit.  It is frustrating that with a movie like Salvation, with a built in fan-base, Dimension seems reluctant to give it a decent chance to reach a wide audience. Of course, I have no practical knowledge of how to promote and market a movie. But from a fan standpoint, I can not help but question the support for this movie. It appears that The Crow is not a priority anymore. Except, that is, with fans.  Now fans have been told of the upcoming release of the soundtrack to Salvation.  With all that has gone on with The Crow the last 6 months, let's just say this fan will not believe it until he has the CD in hand and is listening to it. It is really sad that the only thing consistent with The Crow anymore is cancellations and delays.

  Take care

LLcruize