10 Heart-Rending Details Surrounding Brandon Lee, Who Died Due To A Mistake On A Movie Set

6 /10 Storyline

By some tragic coincidence, the scene is when Eric Draven dies before marrying Shelly, his fiancée in the film.

Draven then comes back from the grave a year later and sets on avenging quest to kill everyone responsible for his and Shelly’s deaths, which essentially makes up the entire film’s storyline.

Brandon Lee also never married Eliza Hutton, his real-world fiancée. A subsequent investigation concluded that the entire tragedy was an unfortunate coincidence. The Crow is dedicated to Lee and Hutton.

5 /10 The Footage

Wilmington police confiscated all films taken of the scene for use in the investigation.

Footage of the shooting is not used in the final production. Lee’s accidental death was attributed to negligence on the part of the film crew. No criminal charges were filed.

Brandon Lee’s mother did file a civil suit, but it was settled out of court. As part of the settlement, footage of the shooting was destroyed. It is entirely possible that investigators only used the video for quick playback.

4 /10 False Rumors

One of the persistent rumors circulating the death of Brandon Lee was a possible (although not proven) involvement of the Chinese Mafia, who allegedly also caused the sudden death of his father, Bruce Lee.

The unfounded claim proposed that Bruce Lee was killed to reveal some ancient secrets of martial arts to the public in film.

Another false rumor revolves around a baseless allegation that an organized crime with ties to the Hong Kong movie industry murdered Brandon Lee because he had refused to work in another film.

3 /10 Curse Of The Crow

In the April 2 issue of Entertainment Weekly, some crew members said the film production was jinxed, to begin with. They called it “the curse of The Crow” because of a series of accidents during the filming.

Among the reported incidents included a disgruntled sculptor who went mad and drove a car through a shop in the studio; a March 13 storm destroyed the sets; a construction worker who drove a screwdriver through his hand carpenter who had severe electrical burn injuries.

2 /10 Redone Shots

Every shot involving the death of Eric Draven was redone. In the final production, he is first wounded by a knife thrown at him by Tin-Tin then dragged to the center of the room before being shot by Funboy and another gang’s character. Finally, the injured Draven is tossed out the window.

A body double was used for the scene. Only during the fall from the window that Lee’s face is visible in the sequence. To accomplice this, the production team digitally added his face to the double.

1 /10 Successful Film

The Crow was a successful film. It opened at number one in the United States, grossing $11.7 million. The film ultimately grossed $50.7 million, ranking 24th among all movies released in 1994.

Today The Crow is considered a cult classic and will always remain the most successful film of Lee’s career.

Roger Ebert said that The Crow was not only Lee’s best film but also better than any of his father’s. Jessica Seigel of the Chicago Tribune argued that Brandon never really left the shadow Bruce and The Crow didn’t live up to the former’s unexploited potential.