The long-planned Crow reboot has gradually become a trial of terror for would-be leading men who, if they weren’t scared off by the Stabbing Westward album blasting from The Crow’s bedroom, have run screaming once The Crow makes them touch a bowl of dead man’s eyeballs, which were really just peeled grapes. It was nearly four years ago that Bradley Cooper exited the project, after which the lead role was reportedly offered to notorious goths like Mark Wahlberg, James McAvoy, and Channing Tatum. Since then, the project drifted from Tom Hiddleston to Luke Evans to, finally, Boardwalk Empire‘s Jack Huston. Now, Variety reports, Huston is out too, the result of a “scheduling conflict.”
The movie has also had similar trouble behind the scenes, though newcomer Corin Hardy is still evidently directing, telling Variety in a statement that he “look[s] forward to unveiling our new lead and starting to film over the next several weeks.” According to the report, backer Relativity Studios is now trying to entice Nicholas Hoult and Unbroken star Jack O’Connell, among others, to take the role, presumably by calling their houses and playing Pretty Hate Machine on their answering machines. According to Variety, the studio is also in talks to bring on Forest Whitaker in an unspecified role, although if it comes down to it we assume he’ll take Star Wars: Rogue One instead. Whoever gets cast, they will join an ensemble that reportedly includes Downton Abbey’s Jessica Findlay and Birdman’s Andrea Riseborough.