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Lee’s death stuns industry – ‘On the brink’ of stardom, he was expected to carry ‘Crow’ franchise (Hollywood Reporter: April 1, 1993)

By Anita M. Busch

The tragic death of a 28-year-old Brandon Lee on the set “The Crow” sent shockwaves throughout Hollywood. As “Crow” producer Ed Pressman and William Morris Agency motion picture department co-head Mike Simpson were flying to Wilmington, N.C, news of Lee’s tragic death quickly spread throughout the industry.

“He had a great, likeable personality on the screen,” said family friend Chuck Norris. “He was right on the brink of making it really big.”

At the time Pressman and Paramount made the agreement to distribute the film, Pressman told by The Hollywood Reporter that he and Lee hoped the comic-book based character would be the first in a series of “crow” films.

“Brandon and I see this very much as a franchise character,” he said at the time. “ The last time I felt this was when I signed Arnold Schwarzenegger to play Conan.”

Lee, who last starred in the actioner “Rapid Fire,” from 20 Century Fox, was also in development on another untitled actioner through, “Rapid Fire” producer Robert Lawrence and screenwriter Alan McElroy. Lawrence was unavailable for comment at press time.

“Fox had a project in development with Brandon and worked with him on ‘Rapid Fire.’ He was a wonderful young man and we express our profound sympathy over this tragedy,” said a Fox spokeswoman.

“The Crow,” which marked the feature film debut of commercial director Alex Proyas, was to be released through Paramount in August. Wednesday afternoon the studio canceled a Thursday morning screening of its product reel, which included footage of Lee from “The Crow.”

“As an actor and a person Brandon Lee was a spiritual young man who only wanted to be better everyday,” Said Lee’s manager and friend Jan McCormick in a statement.” He was hip and funny, but what I admired most was his very real sense of old-fashioned values. I loved him dearly and I’ll miss him terribly.”

The actor was pronounced dead Wednesday afternoon as the result of abdominal injuries suffered when a “projectile” lodged near the actor’s spine. The cause of the accident is still undetermined, however, according to police reports, Lee collapsed during the filming of a scene after another actor fired a shot at him from a gun appropriately 15 feet away. But it was not clear at press time whether the injury was caused by sustained from the gun or from an explosive charge that Lee was carrying in a grocery bag, which was used to simulate the gunfire.

Donna Keegan, chairperson of the Screen Actors Guild’s stunt and safety committee, said, “ we don’t know the cause of the accident until they review the film, and perform the autopsy and remove the projectile, which according to the police report, entered his abdomen and lodged in his spine.”

Keegan stressed that this was “not a stunt—related accident – that it had to do with props or special effects. There were no stuntmen involved. The actor had a gun fired at him, or was squibbed, and until they determine which was the causing factor, or human error on the part of the actor, we won’t know the cause of the accident.”

According to “Rapid Fire” director Dwight Little, “ Brandon was always extremely cautious. He always was aware of the need to follow procedures, to go through check lists…Making a movie like this an airplane pilot before he takes off. We have a lists of things we check. The special effects and stunt people today really are excellent.”

Norris reiterated the fact that Hollywood production crews are very safety conscious. “ It’s important that the stunt coordinator and special effects experts coordinate everything. There must be a high degree of safety on the set. Especially when you are using explosives a lot. When you do an action film there’s always that element of danger but you’ve got to keep it to a minimum.

“You never point a weapon at the star because they have no protection,” Norris continued. “I never point a gun directly at an actor. The wad isn’t supposed to hit him. The wad us just like a bullet at close range.”

“The Crow,” based on the graphic novel by James O’Barr, is about a man brought back from the grave who adopts the persona of a night bird to avenge his own and his girlfriend’s untimely deaths.

Transcribed by Samantha of the BLM