Priest is an upcoming 3-D futuristic superhero vampire western horror film loosely based on the manhwa, the Korean name for comics and print cartoons, of the same name. The film is directed by Scott Stewart and stars Paul Bettany, Cam Gigandet and Maggie Q.
Set 100 years from now after the war between Christians and Satanists, the film is about a Christian warrior priest (Paul Bettany) who disobeys church law by teaming with a young sheriff (Cam Gigandet) and a priestess (Maggie Q) to track down a cult of vampire outlaws that is led by a former Christian and now a Satanic priest, Black Hat, who kidnapped his niece before they brainwash her.
The trailer looks awesome, but then again I thought the same of Jonah Hex and look how poorly that did. Fans of the manhwa (Korean comics) have been critical of the movie as it’s made a departure from the source material. The film is set in an altered Earth, where vampires and humans have fought a war for centuries, but the book jumps from different time periods – from biblical to modern – while the core of the story is set in the Old West. In the books, Ivan Isaacs is portrayed as a priest who turns into a demon-possessed undead creature after he witnesses members of the Vatican kill the woman he loves: his adopted sister. In the film he is a mortal priest/vampire-hunter searching for his niece. The books have him face a multitude of enemies including criminals of the Old West, demons, zombies, unnatural assassins from the Vatican, and fallen or mutant angels. The main antogonist was a fallen angel called Temozarela; there were no vampires in the books. The film’s antagonists, however, are only vampires with a leader who was a priest called Black Hat.
Check out the trailer below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-2VjEjroYU
Priest is set for release in the US on May 13th, 2011.