The Hollywood vampire craze is leaking into comic book territory with the upcoming movie "Priest," an adaptation of the popular manga series. The film already has "Twilight" and "True Blood" credibility thanks to performances from Cam Gigandet and Stephen Moyer, but there's a sci-fi veteran is bringing a little bit of space into the movie as well.
Karl Urban, who played Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy in J.J. Abrams' "Star Trek" last summer, is set for the villainous role of Black Hat, the leader of a pack of vampires that abduct the niece of the titular warrior priest and vampire hunter played by Paul Bettany.
Urban spoke out about his involvement in the film during a recent interview with Collider, describing the film as a mixture of all sorts of genres. Read more...
Around these parts, we’re really looking forward to “Priest,” the currently-shooting adaptation of Min-Woo Hyung’s graphic novel series about mankind’s battle against fallen angels, starring such notables as Paul Bettany, Stephen Moyer, Maggie Q, Karl Urban, Christopher Plummer, Brad Dourif and Madchen (Loved you on "Twin Peaks!") Amick.
It also stars one of our recent on-screen faves, the fast-rising Cam Gigandet—and when we caught up with him recently, he said the flick was well-armed for success.
“I have very cool weapons,” he said of his character Hicks, who he has described as a boy “trying to become a man.” “I have an unbelievable knife; I have an unbelievable gun.” Read more...
It looks like Martin Scorsese's "Shutter Island" isn't the only high-profile movie headed for adaptation at TokyoPop these days. The publisher recently announced plans to publish graphic novels based on Joss Whedon's upcoming horror film "Cabin in the Woods," as well as a graphic novel based on "Priest," the upcoming film starring Cam Gigandet ("Twilight") and Paul Bettany ("Legion").
According to ICv2, the two books are scheduled for release in 2010, likely timed to the February 5 premiere of "Cabin in the Woods" and the August 13 premiere of "Priest." Read more...
One thing I’ve noticed over the course of my life is that chicks dig dudes on motorcycles; one thing I’ve noticed over the last year or so is that chicks also dig Cam Gigandet. So, if the team behind the currently-shooting “Priest” adaptation are concerned about attracting the female demographic, some info I got recently from Cam makes me think they have no need to worry.
“Right now I’m shooting a movie with Paul Bettany that’s called ‘Priest,’ which is going to be an unbelievable film,” he explained when he stopped by the MTV studio last week. “The sets are just unbelievable—and we ride around on motorcycles.”
With any luck, Gigandet joked, not only will he and Bettany look cool as they channel their inner Wild Hogs, but they’ll also look like they know what they’re doing. Read more...
"Priest" is assembling quite the cast already -- in addition to "Twilight" actor Cam Gigandet and "True Blood" star Stephen Moyer, among several others, a trio of new actors have just been announced for the project.
According to multiple sources, actress Madchen Amick and actors Christopher Plummer and Brad Dourif are joining the cast of "Priest," based on the popular manga series of the same name.
Paul Bettany stars as the titular warrior priest who must track down his kidnapped niece, presumably abducted by a group of vicious vampires. Variety reports that Amick will play Shannon, the mother of the kidnapped niece and wife of Stephen Moyer's still unnamed character. Although Dourif and Plummer's roles aren't entirely clear yet, director Scott Stewart announced their casting by way of Twitter. Read more...
Production on "Priest" has been ramping up lately with plenty of casting announcements, including the recent news that "True Blood" star Stephen Moyer would play a role in the film. Now, we're getting our first glimpse at two of the movie's main characters, including "Twilight" actor Cam Gigandet.
Gigandet and Paul Bettany both make their first appearances in a slew of set photographs from JFX Online. While the images reveal very little about the film's actual plot, they provide incredibly detailed looks at both characters and the types of clothing we can expect to see from them.
First up is Gigandet's character. Based on the information we know so far, Gigandet will not be playing a vampire, but rather a small town sheriff whose girlfriend has been abducted by a gang of vampires led by Black Hat, the villain played by Karl Urban. Based on these images, it certainly looks like Gigandet's getting into the law-enforcing groove. Read more...
Bill Compton, you're certainly not in Bon Temps anymore. The "True Blood" vampire is packing his coffin and hitching a ride to an all-new vampire epic—one that's not based on a romance novel, but a hard-hitting manga series instead.
Variety reports that Stephen Moyer, who plays Compton on the hit HBO series, and "90210" actress Lily Collins are joining the cast of the Scott Stewart-directed "Priest," the vampire-centric adaptation starring Paul Bettany, Cam Gigandet, Maggie Q and Karl Urban.
Even though Moyer—who is engaged to "X-Men" actress and "True Blood" co-star Anna Paquin—is best known for his blood-sucking southern gentleman persona, the actor won't be bearing his fangs for "Priest." Moyer's character is described as "the mortal brother of the protagonist," assumedly Bettany's titular warrior priest. Collins, meanwhile, has scored the plum role of the priest's niece, who is also the love interest for Gigandet's character. Read more...
Scott Stewart's live-action adaptation of the TokyoPop comic "Priest" continues to move along with casting, adding "Star Trek" and "Lord of the Rings" actor Karl Urban as the story's main villain.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Urban will play Black Hat, the leader of the murderous vampires who kidnap the niece of a warrior priest and vampire hunter played by Paul Bettany.
Along with a sheriff played by "Twilight" actor Cam Gigandet and a warrior priestess/hunter played by Maggie Q, Bettany's character pursues Urban's blood-sucking villain—who also happens to be a former warrior priest and hunter himself.
Production on "Priest" is scheduled to begin in Los Angeles next week.
Looking forward to "Priest"? Sound off in the comment section or on Twitter!
We have exactly one year to see what Sony’s adaptation of “Priest” will look like, but we can start to imagine the movie a little clearer now that Asian-American actress Maggie Q has been cast.
You know her from such blockbusters as “Live Free or Die Hard,” “Mission: Impossible III” and our favorite Paul Rudd-starred Hong Kong action movie, “Gen-Y Cops.” According to The Hollywood Reporter, Q will reportedly fill out a trio of vampire hunters also consisting of Paul Bettany and “Twilight” actor Cam Gigandet.
Since this movie version seems to have very little to do with the plot of Min-Woo Hyung’s comics, it’s not clear what character, if any, Q’s role is based upon. All we know is that she’s a priestess every bit as tough as her male counterparts, such as Bettany’s titular hero, who she joins to kick some vampire butt while helping him find his kidnapped niece. Read more...
"Priest," starring Paul Bettany of "The Da Vinci Code" and "Twilight" star Cam Gigandet, is set to debut in theaters across the globe in just over a year. Lest you think an August 2010 release date is unrealistic for the manga adaptation, Sony Pictures is providing proof that "Priest" is far from in need of a prayer.
The official website for "Priest" is now online, debuting the very first look at the film's star Paul Bettany as the titular priest. While a first look at Gigandet has yet to arrive, this initial shot of Bettany is enough to inform prospective viewers that this vampire tale is a far cry from the comparatively tame "Twilight" franchise. Read more...
