Actor Brandon Lee walked onto the set of The Crow to film a scene on March 30th 1993.
One stunt went wrong and 24 hours later Brandon Lee was dead.
How Did Brandon Lee Die?
The movie The Crow was set to be a huge film for Brandon Lee.
By now he had gained a following from starring in such films as Rapid Fire and Showdown in Little Tokyo.
Stepping out of his Martial Arts father Bruce Lee’s shadow The Crow was the chance for him to shine on his own stage.
Released in 1989 this gothic, twisted tale revolves around rock star Eric who is brought back to life by a crow and he and his fiancée are murdered.
Concerns about Brandon being cast in the movie were apparent across the board from writers to producers.
They were worried that with Brandon’s attachment The Crow would just be another kung fu movie.
The production originally wanted to cast a musician such as Michael Jackson or Charlie Sexton (Rumoured to be considered).
After this idea was cast aside genuine actors were considered.
Johnny Depp was briefly considered for the role but fate had other plans.
When production met with Lee their minds instantly changed.
His charm, intelligence, and hard work mentality completely sold them in addition to performing nearly all of his own stunts.
He had the look and brought the right mix of elements to the character.
The Curse of The Crow
The Crow had a budget of $15 million but from day one it was never plain sailing.
In fact many accidents happened on the set of The Crow leading up to the fateful day.
A carpenter suffered severe burns, a crew member crashed his car into the back of the studio lot and a famous North Carolina storm on March 13th destroyed all of the exterior sets.
The harsh working environments were tough on everyone as the storm caused issue after issue.
Outside in the cold pouring rain all of the exterior shots had been completed and all that was left were a few more interior shots.
The exterior shots and night shoots had taken their toll on Lee.
It was said that he’d lost 20 pounds after joining the production. Late nights and early mornings left Lee’s manager worried about his wellbeing.
Lee himself even filed a formal complaint against production conditions days before his death.
Lee’s manager actually rang up production raging about the notoriously bad working conditions and said that the movie was killing his client. Deadly last words.
The Fateful Day of Brandon Lee’s Death
Many people ask the question of “How did Brandon Lee die from a prop Gun?”
Well, much earlier than March 30th many items were brought for production including a set of live bullets.
Bullets should never be kept on set so the prop master kept them in his car.
Films use blanks when filming gun scenes.
They use a form of gunpowder that creates the correct sound but they are cardboard (not lead) tipped so any impact wouldn’t harm the person it was fired at.
Whilst we still have no idea why live bullets were brought in the first place the next segment gets even stranger.
One day on set production found out that they had run out of blanks.
In a rush, the prop master took the live bullets and modified them into blanks. Dummy rounds were also created (no gunpowder but still have the lead tips).
Whilst the dummy round was loaded into the gun, a lead tip got lodged inside the barrel.
The lodged tip somehow stayed inside the gun for a whole two weeks without being checked or found once.
Very unusual as prop masters are usually very thorough when it comes to weapons checking.
The fact real bullets were purchased for production in the first place also raises many questions.
March 30th
Two weeks later (March 30th) the very same gun was to be used in a scene between Brandon Lee and Michael Massee’s character Funboy.
Lee was directed to walk into the apartment and activate a squib.
A squib is a packet of blood that simulates a gunshot wound. Massee fired the gun, the gun went off, the squib went off and Lee fell.
It took a few moments for the production to realize what had happened when they saw that Lee wasn’t moving.
He was losing blood and the gun that fired the blank had also launched the lodged lead tip into Lee’s abdomen.
Brandon Lee was rushed to New Hanover Regional Medical Center and after six hours of unsuccessful operations Lee was pronounced dead at 1:04 am on March 31st, 1993.
After an investigation, the shooting was ruled as an accident and Linda Cadwell (Lee’s mother) filed a civil suit against the studio which was settled out of court.
Brandon’s death, like his father Bruce Lee came with much speculation and conspiracy theories.
How did Brandon Lee die was the topic of conversation for many conspiracy theorists with such theories including a murder plot similar to the one his father was embroiled in.
Bruce Lee died of a brain edema in 1973 when he was 32 but speculation of Lee’s murder by an Asian mafia was rife.
It was also said that Brandon also believed that his father was murdered.
Filming Continued
Two months after Lee’s death more finance was secured ($8m) to re-write the script and finish the movie using stuntmen replacements for Lee.
Many of the crew members were emotionally and psychologically affected by the events. A third of the movie’s original crew never returned to set.
Massee who was the actor who accidentally fired that fatal round told Extra in 2005 the following:
“I wasn’t even supposed to be handling the gun until we started shooting the scene. The director changed it. I just took a year off and I went back to New York and didn’t do anything. I didn’t work. What happened to Brandon was a tragic accident… I don’t think you ever get over something like that.”
The New York Times were quick to report the news citing negligence on set.
Michael Massee himself passed away in 2016.
“The Crow” went on to make more than $50 million at the box office and numerous sequels and a short-lived television series were spawned as a result.
The original movie was mostly well received with the NYTimes calling it a ‘Sleek Fantasy’ and Rotten Tomatoes standing at a solid 83% many moons after its release.
So the answer to the question of how did Brandon Lee die seems to be accidental.
If that’s what you believe.
February 1st, 2020 would have been Brandon Lee’s birthday he would have been 55 years old.
