Sci-Fi Film and Television Developments
Priest
2/5/10 – Priest, the Screen Gems post-apocalyptic vampire movie starring Paul Bettany, has shifted its release date again, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The Scott Stewart-directed movie is getting the 3D treatment and will now be released Jan. 14, 2011. Priest is based on a graphic novel by Min-Woo Hyung and sees Bettany as a warrior priest who teams up with a young sheriff (Cam Gigandet) and a priestess (Maggie Q) to track down a band of renegade vampires.
1/26/10 - SCI FI Wire reported that director Scott Stewart and actor Paul Bettany are teaming for Priest, an upcoming futuristic vampire story based on a Korean comic book. In the movie, Jedi-like warrior priests battle vampires in a post-apocalyptic wasteland that's like the Old West. Thing is, the comic book wasn't a future story and didn't deal with vampires; rather, it was set in the actual Old West, and its main character, the immortal priest Ivan Isaacs, instead battles fallen angels. That might seem like a big change, but Priest creator Hyung Min-woo doesn't mind. "Min-woo came out and visited us over the summer," Stewart said. "He'd read a translation of the script and came out and was really, really pleased with what he saw. We talk about the graphic novels as being the past, and Priest is kind of the future." In the movie, Bettany stars as a character simply named Priest. "It's a very different story for me," Bettany said. "It's a hugely different character in that Michael is all about forgiveness and faith, and Priest is about revenge. He just wants blood. We went into it with the same spirit, but with three times the budget, which changes everything." With more money to work with, the future setting of Priest allowed Stewart to play with the visuals. "It's got lots of action and stuff, but it is literally a science fiction western," Stewart said. "It takes place in an alternate universe. There's retro-futuristic things, motorcycles instead of horses, and big industrial cities. The whole mythology is entirely the history of the vampire/human wars and all this other kind of stuff. The Priest characters are like these Jedi Knights." Priest is due out Aug. 20.
11/19/09 – SCI FI Wire reported that the upcoming movie Priest, loosely based on a Korean comic series, will deal mainly with the kick-ass, bloodthirsty subset of the undead. Karl Urban plays the film's villain, Black Hat, and said the movie deals with the war between humans and vampires that follows a vampire apocalypse. "The film is set in a post-apocalyptic vampire world at the end of generations of war between vampires and humans," Urban said. "That's where this story takes place. I think that it's going to have some pretty dark moments in it, that's for sure. Dude, it's not Twilight. I do have fangs." In terms of production value, Urban said that director Scott Stewart packed Priest with sci-fi atmosphere a la Ridley Scott's Blade Runner. "He shot this scene on the old Warner Brothers lot where they shot Blade Runner, and he really out-Ridleyed Ridley," Urban said. "It looked amazing. Crowd scenes, people speaking different languages: It was literally just jumping off of the screen. Literally, the assistant director said, 'Look, if you can speak a foreign language, please, we want to hear it.' It was amazing." The movie will also feature hard-core vampire action. Paul Bettany plays the film's hero, simply called Priest, and Urban described the no-holds-barred fight scenes they're filming. "I stomped on his finger and smashed my elbow into his face, gave him a cut lip, and he still worked, so he's a professional," Urban said. "I did extensive fight training for this, because, literally, one-third of the movie is action-based stuff." Priest opens Oct 1. 2010.
9/23/09 - Scott
Stewart, director of the post-apocalyptic vampire movie Priest,
tweeted that new cast member Christopher Plummer "plays Monsignor Orelas,
the leader of our Orwellian Church State."
9/18/09 - Director Scott Stewart tweeted that Christopher Plummer and Brad Dourif have joined the cast of Priest. Bloody-Disgusting reported that Madchen Amick has joined the cast. They join a cast that includes Paul Bettany, Cam Gigandet, Maggie Q, Karl Urban, Stephen Moyer and Lily Collins. Written by Cory Goodman, Priest is set in a world ravaged by centuries of war between man and vampires. Paul Bettany is Priest, a legendary warrior priest during the last Vampire War, who now lives in obscurity among the other human inhabitants in walled-in dystopian cities controlled by the Church. But when his 18-year-old niece is abducted by a murderous pack of vampires in the desolate wastelands outside, Priest breaks his sacred vows and ventures out to find her and seek vengeance upon those responsible, especially their brutal leader (Karl Urban). Priest is joined on his crusade by his niece's boyfriend, Hicks (Cam Gigandet), a local outpost sheriff, and Priestess (Maggie Q), a member of his former legion of vampire-killers who has otherworldly fighting skills. Principal photography has already started and the movie comes out on Jan. 22, 2010.
8/25/09 - Stephen Moyer will play a vampire hunter in the upcoming Priest, joining Lily Collins, Variety reported; the Scott Stewart-directed Screen Gems thriller also stars Paul Bettany, Cam Gigandet and Maggie Q.
8/13/09 - Maggie Q is joining Paul Bettany and Cam Gigandet in Priest, the horror western that Scott Stewart is directing for Screen Gems, Variety reported.
6/16/09 – SCI FI Wire reported that Cam Gigandet plays a hunter of vampires in the upcoming supernatural horror western film Priest but said that they're a different kind of bloodsucker from the sparkly romantic ones in Stephenie Meyer's books. "If you wanted to call them something, they would be vampires, but not in the terms that we think vampires are," Gigandet said. "They don't like sun, and that's kind of the main similarity. Other than that, they don't look like humans, and they move differently. When people think of vampires now, they think of Twilight, but it's not like that at all." Priest, based on a TokyoPop comic book, is set in a world ravaged by centuries of war between man and vampires. It follows a warrior priest (Paul Bettany) who turns against the church to track down a murderous band of vampires who have kidnapped his niece. Gigandet plays a young wasteland sheriff who is part vampire and who partners with Bettany's priest to save the girl he loves. Gigandet said that he'll begin shooting Priest at the "end of August. That one's a big movie." Following is an edited version of the rest of our interview with Gigandet. Priest is eyeing an August 2010 release date.
6/8/09 - Cam Gigandet will star opposite Paul Bettany in Priest, a horror western that Scott Stewart is directing for Screen Gems, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Adapted by Cory Goodman from a TokyoPop comic book, Priest is set in a world ravaged by centuries of war between man and vampires and follows a warrior priest (Bettany) who turns against the church to track down a murderous band of vampires who have kidnapped his niece. Gigandet plays a young wasteland sheriff who is part vampire. He partners with Bettany to save the girl he loves, the niece. That latter part has yet to be cast.
3/31/09 - Paul Bettany is in negotiations to star in Priest, a horror Western that Michael De Luca and Stars Road Entertainment's Josh Donen are producing for Screen Gems, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Mitchell Peck also will produce. Priest is set in a world ravaged by centuries of war between man and vampire and follows a warrior priest (Bettany) who turns against the church to track down a murderous band of vampires who have kidnapped his niece. Cory Goodman wrote the screenplay.
12/17/08 - Scott Charles Stewart has signed to direct Priest, a horror western adapted from a TokyoPop comic book, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Michael De Luca and Stars Road Entertainment's Josh Donen are producing for Screen Gems; Mitchell Peck will also produce. The story is set in a world ravaged by centuries of war between man and vampire and follows a warrior priest who turns against the church to track down a murderous band of vampires who have kidnapped his niece. Cory Goodman wrote the screenplay.
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