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Just when we thought that "Angels & Demons" had called a truce in the battle between Catholics and Hollywood, a new front has been established.
Screen Gems, part of Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group and Sony Pictures Entertainment, has announced it is working on "Priest," about a rogue, "warrior" priest in a future world ravaged by centuries of war between humans and vampires. The film is based on the Korean comic book series of the same name created by Hyung Min-woo.
Starring are Paul Bettany (You may remember him as Silas in "The Da Vinci Code." I remember him as Geoffrey Chaucer in "A Knight's Tale.") as warrior priest Ivan Isaacs, and Cam Gigandet (who played a vampire in that other vampire movie, "Twilight") as a half-human, half-vampire sheriff. The two team-up to save Gena (not yet cast), Bettany's niece and Gigandet's girl friend.
The film is in pre-production. A late summer 2010 release is expected. Stay tuned for culture war fall out.
Comic book aficionados and Priest fans have noted that there are no vampires in the original work. They are hoping that by protesting this in blogs and fan Web sites, they can get the movie people to stick more closely to Hyung Min-woo's vision. Good luck with that.
