How did Brandon Lee die on the sets of The Crow (1994)? Details explored

Brandon Lee was a talented actor and a promising young action star in Hollywood. Unfortunately, his life was cut short during the production of his breakout film, The Crow, due to a prop gun failure.

The Crow is a supernatural action film highly praised for its visual style, storytelling, and the acting of Brandon Lee, who portrayed the lead character, Eric Draven.

The film is based on a comic book series by James O'Barr and tells the story of a man who is killed, along with his fiance, by a group of violent thugs. He is resurrected and takes revenge on the criminals. The film was a commercial success, which is unfortunately attributed to the tragedy attached to it.

---

Brandon Lee died due to prop gun failure during filming of The Crow

On March 31, 1993, Brandon Lee was filming one of the final scenes of The Crow. In the scene, his character, Eric Draven, enters a room and finds that his fiance is being beaten and assaulted by a bunch of criminals. Eric is then shot and killed by a character named Funboy, played by Michael Massee.

Massee reportedly fired a Smith & Wesson Model 629 .44 Magnum revolver at Lee. Unfortunately, the prop gun was not properly checked before use and contained a dummy bullet. When the gun was fired, the dummy bullet hit Lee in the abdomen with lethal force, making him fall backward instead of forward, as scripted.

Initially, the crew did not realize that Lee had been injured and thought he was trying to pull a prank. Later, when everyone realized that he was having trouble breathing, they took him to the hospital. He was declared dead after six hours of unsuccessful emergency surgery.

---

Brandon Lee is buried beside his father Bruce Lee

Brandon Lee is buried next to his legendary father, Bruce Lee, at the Lake View Cemetery in Seattle, Washington. Bruce Lee himself died at the young age of 33, and Brandon's sudden death raised many conspiracy theories about their deaths.

However, the actor's death was ruled as an accident. Following this incident, his mother, Linda Lee Cadwell, filed a lawsuit against the filmmakers for negligence, though the details of the settlement were not revealed to the public.

Decades later, a similar incident occurred on the set of the film Rust in 2021, when Alec Baldwin accidentally shot and killed cinematographer Halyana Hutchins.

Lee's sister Shannon, sharing her grief, tweeted:

"Our hearts go out to the family of Halyna Hutchins and to Joel Souza and all involved in the incident on “Rust”. No one should ever be killed by a gun on a film set. Period."

---

Brandon Lee's filmography explored

Brandon Lee started his acting career on stage during his college days and appeared in several stage productions. He made his screen debut with the television film Kung Fu: The Movie in 1986. In the same year, he was cast as Brandon Ma in the Hong Kong thriller Legacy of Rage.

His Hollywood debut was in 1991 with Showdown in Little Tokyo after he refused to play his father, Bruce Lee, in the biopic Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story. After finding moderate success with Rapid Fire, released in 1992, he was cast in The Crow. Unfortunately, the accident ended his promising career.

However, The Crow became a big hit and is considered a cult classic. It spawned many sequels and a 2024 remake starring Bill Skarsgard as Eric.

Year	Title	Film/Television	Role
1986	Legacy of Rage	Film	Brandon Ma
1989	Laser Mission	Film	Micheal Gold
1991	Showdown in Little Tokyo	Film	Johnny Murata
1992	Rapid Fire	Film	Jake Lo
1994	The Crow	Film	Eric Draven
1986	Kung Fu: The Movie	Television	Chung Wang
1987	Kung Fu: The Next Generation	Television	Johnny Caine
1988	Ohara	Television	Kenji

---

The Crow, starring Brandon Lee, is available to stream on Prime Video. Viewers can rent the film for $4.59 or purchase it for $7.99.