It was revealed last year that plans were afoot to bring The Crow franchise back to the big screen, with director Stephen Norrington circling the project.

Norrington, as has been well documented over the past few years, hasn't directed a film since the ill-fated League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen movie (that also inspired Sean Connery to permanently retire from acting), but he's now reportedly completed a draft of the film which has been submitted to Relativity Media. Relativity is the production company with the rights to bring a new Crow movie to the screen.

The latest update over at Comics2Life is that Norrington's draft has now been "very well received" by Relativity, and the site also reports that the project is now very much heading forward.

It now suggests that the film may have reached the casting stage, which bodes well for the new Crow going before the cameras in 2010. 2011 seems a likely release year for the film then, should progress continue at the pace it's going. We'll keep you posted.

Here's the Comics2Life piece.