Underworld Rise of the Lycans

The third film in the $200 million UNDERWORLD franchise delves into the origins of the centuries-old blood feud between the aristocratic vampires, known as Death Dealers, and the barbaric Lycans (werewolves). A young Lycan, Lucian (Michael Sheen), emerges as a powerful leader who rallies the werewolves to rise up against Viktor (Bill Nighy), the cruel vampire king who has persecuted them for hundreds of years. Lucian is joined by his secret lover, the beautiful vampire Sonja (Rhona Mitra), in his battle to free the Lycans from their brutal enslavement.

The running time is 92 minutes.

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A centuries-long blood feud erupts between two powerful and immortal tribes in Underworld: Rise of the Lycans. The third film in the epic Underworld saga goes back in time to depict the origins of the conflict between the aristocratic Vampires, known as Death Dealers, and the barbaric Lycans, a line of fierce werewolves. With more eye-popping CGI and astounding creature effects than either of its predecessors, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans reveals some of the hit franchise's most compelling secrets.

Screen Gems and Lakeshore Entertainment present Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, a Lakeshore Entertainment Production in association with Sketch Films. Michael Sheen (Frost/Nixon, The Queen), Bill Nighy (the Pirates of the Caribbean series, Love Actually), Kevin Grevioux and Steven Mackintosh reprise their roles as Vampire overlords and Lycan rebels, with Rhona Mitra (Doomsday, TV's Boston Legal) joining the cast as the impetuous Vampire warrior, Sonja. Patrick Tatopoulos (who designed the creatures for all three Underworld films) makes his feature film directing debut from a screenplay by Danny McBride (Underworld and Underworld: Evolution) and Dirk Blackman & Howard McCain (Outlander). The film is based on characters created by Kevin Grevioux and Len Wiseman & Danny McBride and the story is by Len Wiseman & Robert Orr and Danny McBride. Producers are Tom Rosenberg (Million Dollar Baby), Gary Lucchesi (The Exorcism of Emily Rose), Len Wiseman (Underworld and Underworld: Evolution, Live Free or Die Hard) and Richard Wright (Underworld). Skip Williamson, Henry Winterstern, James McQuaide, Eric Reid and Beth DePatie are executive producers.

The director of photography is Ross Emery, ACS (The Cave), the production design is by Dan Hennah (supervising art director on The Lord of the Rings trilogy), the editor is Peter Amundson (Hellboy), the costume designer is Jane Holland (30 Days of Night), the creature designer is Patrick Tatopoulos (Underworld and Underworld: Evolution) and the music is by Paul Haslinger (Crank, Prom Night).

More than a thousand years before the events of the original Underworld, two races of preternatural beings came into being, each springing from the bloodlines of a different son of the original Immortal, Alexander Corvinus. Vampires, arising from the Markus line, became elegant, aristocratic, cunning blood drinkers. Werewolves, from the William line, became savage beasts, with no trace of humanity left - and an insatiable appetite for violence. The Vampires came to dominate the local region - the wild lands in what is now western Hungary - with their superior intelligence, strength, and political skill. But even they feared the werewolves, who, though incapable of organization and higher thought, were capable of immense strength and savagery. And then another genetic fluke transformed the balance of power again: a female werewolf, captive in the Vampire stronghold, gave birth to a seemingly human child. This was Lucian (Michael Sheen) - the first Lycan, born into slavery in the house of Viktor (Bill Nighy), the supremely powerful Vampire leader. Unlike "William's Kind", the original werewolves, this Lycan was able to take the form of either man or beast at will. Lucian's bloodline was used by Viktor to create an entirely new breed of slaves, abused by the Vampires as laborers and guards during the vulnerable daylight hours, and prevented from transforming by the silver-spiked moonshackles kept locked around their necks.

Viktor reigns over his slaves, his court and his domains with an iron hand. He loves only two things: power, and his beautiful but willful daughter Sonja (Rhona Mitra).

Each night, Sonja rides with the Death Dealers, an elite squad of Vampire soldiers that protect Viktor's domain against the marauding werewolves. But unknown to her father or any of her peers, Sonja has fallen in love with Lucian, now a skilled blacksmith and weapons-maker in the Vampire castle. Their affair must be conducted in the utmost secret, since if discovered, it would mean certain death for both of them.

When Lucian reveals that he has found a way to remove his moonshackle and gain his freedom, Viktor resolves to destroy him like a disobedient animal. In a thrilling sequence, Lucian manages rally the other Lycans and escape from the Vampire dungeons - with Sonja's help. Refusing to abandon his beloved, Lucian assembles a ragtag army of escaped Lycans, slaves and werewolves, returning to challenge Vampire rule and rescue Sonja. The attack and its aftermath ignite an all-out war that will burn between the races for centuries to come. Incredible battle scenes, astonishing stunts and cutting-edge creature effects make Underworld: Rise of the Lycans an epic adventure that stands proudly on its own.

SHINING A LIGHT ON THE CAST

The filmmakers of Underworld: Rise of the Lycans were thrilled to have been able to reassemble the cast that created some of the series' most unforgettable characters, an ensemble that features several distinguished British actors with busy careers. "I had no idea that we'd be able to maintain the cast that we've had," says Wiseman. "I was thrilled to be able to get so many of them back."

The script explains centuries of enmity between adversaries Lucian (Michael Sheen) and Viktor (Bill Nighy) with plot twists that may subvert fans' expectations. "Because both those characters were very complex, it was really nice to be able to resurrect them for the prequel in the new context of the historical past," says Wright.

Sheen, a BAFTA nominee for his work in The Queen with Helen Mirren, has appeared as Lucian in all three movies, taking the character from apparent arch villain to hero. "One thing that Michael always brings to his work is passion," says Tatopoulos. "There's nothing that escapes him and every detail of this character is very precise."

Co-star Nighy agrees. "Michael is one of those very rare actors who will deliver any role with great intelligence, great wit and great power. Nobody in the history of cinema delivers a werewolf as brilliantly and as powerfully as Michael Sheen. I say that with complete confidence." After seeing Lucian die in Underground: Evolution, Sheen was happily surprised to have an opportunity to play the character again. "I got the chance to show the story that we heard about in the first film," says the actor. "In the beginning, you think that he's the bad guy and then you start to get more information about him. The idea of showing how the character came to be is very attractive."

After portraying the character twice in the past, Sheen can now explore another side of him. "One of the things in our story that I was most interested in was the idea of Lucian's relationship to the animal in him," he continues. "Viktor used Lucian as a teenage boy to create more Lycans. Lucian was so disturbed and traumatized by this experience that he reacted against this animal side of himself, and in fact spends his life up until the point of our story killing werewolves.

"This gives Lucian a very strong inner journey. In trying to find freedom, he has to accept something about himself that he has avoided his entire life. That takes the story slightly further than just a myth."

Lucian also emerges as a leader for the first time, observes Sheen. "He is someone who is able to inspire brotherhood amongst people who have never felt it."

The film also reveals a new side of Viktor, the Vampire leader who plays a central role in the other films. "We get to see why Viktor becomes the way he is in the first film," says Wiseman. "Bill brought a take on Viktor that was different from the one I first saw on the page. He brought a tone to it that I love and I think people get a kick out of his approach."

Tatopoulos praises Nighy's tremendous investment in the part. "You never know what the next thing's going to be, but you expect anything," he says. "Bill goes from a smile to this incredible twisted face in a second. He's created a character that's on the edge of Grand Guignol. It makes him quite scary and intriguing."

Nighy's long career on stage and in film and television has made him one of Britain's most honored actors, and he brings the same commitment to the Vampire ruler as he does to his stage work. "Vampires are, by dint of being Vampires, cool," Nighy says. "Being senior Vampire, I get to snarl and sneer and to be tortured, too. He is of two minds about some of the stuff that he gets up to. You are led to believe that he has feelings of a kind of normal nature, but that he is emotionally challenged. This is a man who drinks his daughter's blood and then arranges for her to be burnt to toast."

Viktor's relative youth in this film meant Nighy spent far less time in the makeup chair. "I had to spend six hours in prosthetic makeup for the first one, where I'd been asleep for hundreds of years and was, strictly speaking, fleshless," he remembers. "I also get to wear a full-length velvet skirt. It's not often that I have an excuse for that and it's liberating and kind of funky. I am fractionally Scottish, so it's almost legitimate for me to put on a kilt. Not that I often do. I did once though, and I was surprised at how satisfying it felt."

Actress Kate Beckinsale left an indelible mark on the Underworld franchise with her fierce portrayal of Selene, the Death Dealer, in the first two chapters. Rhona Mitra was initially apprehensive about joining a franchise so closely associated with, as she says, "another British, brunette actress. Once I understood it was a prequel and a complete departure in terms of the character, I knew I could carve out something for myself."

The filmmakers praise Mitra's ability to capture the contradictory elements of Sonja's personality. "It was very hard to find somebody with the toughness you need from the Death Dealer, who also has a vulnerable side," says Wiseman. "I think it's a very difficult thing to pull off as deftly as Rhona has."

The character reminds Tatopoulos of Selene in many ways. "Sonja is to me the archetype for Selene," he says. "Sonja is a warrior, but there's something very fragile in her as well. She's definitely a strong fighter, but emotionally she's very charged as well. And she can become quite sensitive."

Playing the Vampire assassin is an entirely new experience for Mitra. "This is a complete departure from any roles that I have played," she says. "She is incredibly empowered. Sonja is a quite passionate female who embodies all of these warrior-like qualities, but also this wonderful femininity. It is quite seductive and enticing."

Even though she is a newcomer to the franchise, Mitra says her co-stars made her immediately comfortable on set. "I had never worked with Bill or Michael before. Bill is a rock star in his own right. He lends himself so brilliantly and so gracefully to the Vampire world. And Michael's preparation for this role was really exemplary. People always say, 'Oh, I'm so blessed, and it's such an honor' but it genuinely was. The bar was set high and I had to rise to the occasion."

When Kevin Grevioux was creating the complex universe of Underworld, he made sure to include a juicy part for himself: Lucian's lieutenant, Raze. In Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, he has an opportunity to explore the origins of the character. "In this story, we finally deal with how he came to be a Lycan and how he came to have this special relationship with Lucian," Grevioux says. "Raze was somebody that Lucian trusted, a powerful human among the slaves, which is why Lucian wanted him in his Lycan family."

Steven Mackintosh again plays Tannis, the Vampire archivist. "I wasn't creating a character from scratch," he says. "But there is a difference. The earlier incarnation of Tannis is different. By the time we catch up with him in Evolution, he's been in hiding for quite a long time and he's living this slightly profligate life. I liken him to the Hugh Hefner of the Vampire world by that time."

The reassembled cast quickly adjusted to their new director. "Patrick has been incredibly ego-free," says Sheen. "And it's been great to see him relishing his role on this film and really taking on that whole thing. And of course he's brought his brilliant visual sense to this film. It looks amazing."

Veteran actor Nighy also speaks highly of Tatopoulos. "I can't say enough about Patrick-he was absolutely brilliant. I ceased to think of him as a first-time director about half way through the first day. He was impeccable and endlessly courteous. He's charming, sharp and smart; and his background in design and special effects and creatures stood us in very good stead."

Mitra concurs: "What was so wonderful was how in touch he was with his crew. That created a happy set. Everybody was respected. I think that his level of humility is really evident along with his ability to listen to what people want and what people need."

Underworld Rise of the Lycans

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