The movie comes 30 years after the 1994 film of the same name, which was plagued by tragedy after Brandon Lee died following an accidental shooting on the set ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty The stars of are ready to unveil their new film! , and director Rupert Sanders were on-hand for the world premiere of the movie at Village East by Angelika in New York City on Tuesday, Aug. 20. is a remake of the 1994 film by the same name starring the late .
At the premiere, Skarsgård, 34, exclusively tells PEOPLE that stepping into Lee's role of Eric Draven was "daunting." He notes that although he's part of the 2024 rendition, there have been prior remakes in both film and TV, adding, "So I'm not the first one to fill those shoes." "An iconic performance, a tragic thing that happened with Brandon," he continues.
"And for me, I approached this like I do any other job like, 'What's this story? How can I do this story justice?' " John Nacion/Variety via Getty Skarsgård also tells PEOPLE that because the latest iteration is "so different" from the original, Lee's portrayal did not play a part in his approach. "We were not remaking that movie, and that was never the intention," he says. "I feel like that movie and his performance is iconic and shouldn't be tampered with at all.
So I'm glad that we tried to do something very different with it." Related: Moviestore/Shutterstock The film follows a man named Eric (Skarsgård) who is resurrected after his murder to take revenge on those who kill.