MovieChat Forums > The Crow (1994) Discussion > How big of a deal was the initial news o...

How big of a deal was the initial news of Brandon Lee's death at the time?

posted a year ago by TMC-4 (20160)
8 replies | jump to latest

Here's an assortment of news reports from the time:
https://moviechat.org/tt0109506/The-Crow/5eb4f33ecb10f2240e94a296/Brandon-Lee-shot-Media-Coverage-1993-Inside-Edition-The-Big-Picture-Hard-Copy

I doesn't appear that Brandon's death was really the big headline news story if that makes sense:
https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/89u9kh/comment/dwuamye/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

Granted, the internet wasn't really around yet back in 1993-94 when this happened. Admittedly, the poster in the comment that I linked, was from the UK, where it wasn't that heavily covered (unless you read say, Empire magazine or watched the few TV programs out there that were dedicated to film), then the only way that you knew that a film was coming out was either seeing its trailer in the cinema, its review in the newspaper, or a billboard poster.

Was was still in elementary school at the time and I may have first found out about Brandon's death by stumbling across it in a newspaper while at school.

[–] DoctorThirteen (14090) a year ago

I'm in the UK. I certainly remember it being reported in the papers. The main thrust of course was 'the curse of the Lee family'. Also, I was buying a lot of martial arts magazines at the time, so I saw plenty of coverage there.

[–] TMC-4 (20160) 9 months ago

There's a depressing 10 part blind item that's allegedly about (under the title ""Stranger Things Have Happened" - A Himmmm Blind Item 04/23" in bold purple lettering) Brandon Lee from April 2018 from Crazy Days and Nights:
http://www.agcwebpages.com/BLINDITEMS/2018/APRIL.html

Movie: "The Crow"
Buddy: Brandon Lee (died March 31, 1993 (aged 28) in Wilmington, North Carolina, U.S. of an accidental shooting on set of "The Crow"
Nin: Shannon Lee
Father: Bruce Lee
Mother: retired martial art teacher Linda Lee Cadwell
Grandmother: Cantonese opera singer Lee Hoi-Chuen
College: Tulane University in New Orleans
Cissy: Eliza "Lisa" Hutton
Former A list, mostly movie director, (who today is trying to make a comeback after a big absence: Alex Proyas
Foreign-born, former A list singer of a very dark rock band: Robert Smith ("The Cure")
Deceased permanent A+ actress when I was only a child. She was the sweetest, most beautiful woman I'd ever known: Natalie Wood
Stuntmen was a good friend of Buddy: Jeff Imada
Stuntman, double, and amateur therapist. He eventually became an A list Director in his own right many years after this film: Chad Stahelski
Brotherly duo who were distributors (now disgraced): Bob and Harvey Weinstein ("Miramax")
Foundation: Bruce Lee Foundation

Part 7 discusses what supposedly happened on March 31, 1993, the day that Brandon Lee was tragically shot and killed:
https://www.crazydaysandnights.net/2018/04/blind-item-14-stranger-things-have.html

[–] Mustang (5432) 9 months ago

I didn't watch or read a lot of news back then but I was aware of it as I was into the film. The movie itself was more of a cult thing than a huge blockbuster from what I remember too and Brandon Lee was not a big name in his own right. A friend of mine was obsessed with the movie and seemed to know all the details and claimed to know the moment in the film that Lee was really shot.

[–] Wint3rFir3 (7176) 9 months ago

It was big because it was seen as part of the family curse.

[–] TMC-4 (20160) 8 months ago

What was the last significant fatality on a motion picture set prior to Brandon's death? Was it Vic Morrow's on the Twilight Zone movie set back in 1982? Even if Brandon wasn't Bruce Lee's son, I still think that it would've been big news none the less. When the whole Rust tragedy with Alec Baldwin happened, naturally, we all first thought of what happened to Brandon almost 30 years prior as a point of reference.

[–] Wint3rFir3 (7176) 8 months ago

Dunno, that's why I don't think it would've been as big of a deal if it wasn't Brandon Lee's son, because every fatality wasn't being publicized.

[–] TMC-4 (20160) 8 months ago

It's really hard to believe now that it has officially been 31 years since we lost Brandon Lee:
https://www.cbr.com/brandon-lee-remembered-the-crow-remake-release/

[–] Lord Rake (4465) 8 months ago

I remember my dad was awfully worried that the loss of Lee might affect the plot of Showdown in Little Tokyo. It was a film Lee did before The Crow and my father really liked it.