28 Aug - Filmmaker Rupert Sanders has revealed that the tragic death of Brandon Lee on the set of the 1996 "The Crow" was the reason why he insisted on having a truly safe set for the 2024 version. The director, whose reboot of the film has been in theatres since 21 August, said that safety was his number one priority when it comes to filming the movie. "Film sets are very dangerous. There are fast moving cars with cranes stuck on the top. There are stunt guys falling on high wires down steps. Even just walking around a set at night with rain machines and lights - you're working in an industrial environment. So, it's dangerous. You have to be safe," he said.
Thus, Sanders said, he made sure to stress the importance of having no firing weapons at all on set, meaning any gun that could have a live round or a blank round. "They're all Airsoft guns, and some of them are just rubber or metal decoys that are functional but have no firing mechanism," he added. "The beauty of the Airsoft is that the slide on a Glock will still move back, but then you have to add the shell casing. You have to add a muzzle flash and smoke, but that was a price worth paying. It took a fair bit of money out of my very limited visual effects budget, but I think it was worth it."
Brandon Lee was killed in March 1993 when actor Michael Massee, who played a thug in the movie, fires a Smith & Wesson Model 629 .44 Magnum revolver at Lee's character, not knowing that the gun was not properly checked and cleared before the blank was fired. The actor was the son of the legendary Bruce Lee. In a more recent incident, cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was fatally shot by Alec Baldwin on the set of "Rust" in 2021 due to the prop gun having real rounds.