Cast / Characters

Paul Bettany as Priest
Karl Urban as Black Hat
Cam Gigandet as Hicks
Maggie Q as Priestess
Lily Collins as Lucy Pace
Brad Dourif as Salesman
Stephen Moyer as Owen Pace
Christopher Plummer as Monsignor Orelas
Alan Dale as Monsignor Chamberlain
Mädchen Amick as Shannon Pace
Jacob Hopkins as Boy
Dave Florek as Crocker
Joel Polinsky as Dr. Tomlin
Julie Mond as Wife
Josh Wingate as Familiar
John Griffin as Familiar in the Crypt

Priest is directed by Scott Stewart and written by Cory Goodman. The film is based on the supernatural horror and action Korean comics Priest by Min-Woo Hyung. The project was first announced in March 2005 when the studio Screen Gems bought Goodman's spec script.

In January 2006, Andrew Douglas, who directed The Amityville Horror, was attached to direct Priest. In June 2006, actor Gerard Butler entered negotiations to star as the title character, and filming was scheduled to start in Mexico on October 1, 2006.

By March 2009, Douglas was replaced by Stewart, who impressed Screen Gems with Legion. Paul Bettany replaced Butler in the starring role. With a budget of $60 million, filming began in August 2009 in Los Angeles, California, and it concluded in November 2009. The film is the most expensive production from Screen Gems, to date.

Tokyopop flew Min-Woo Hyung to where production was taking place so the comics' creator could visit the art department and discuss the film with Stewart. The film diverges from the comics in following a different timeline of events and adding elements of the sci-fi western, cyberpunk and post-apocalyptic science fiction genres.

The director described Priest's vampires as not being human in origin, and humans bitten by vampires became familiars instead. There are different forms of vampires, such as hive drones, guardians, and a queen. Since the vampires were intended to move quickly, they were fully computer-generated for the film.

While vampires are harmed by sunlight in most lore, the film's vampires are instead photosensitive, being albino cave-dwellers. Stewart said, "They are the enemy we don't really understand, but we fought them for centuries.

They are mysterious and alien, with their own culture. You sense that they think and communicate, but you don't really understand what they are saying."

The director also called Priest a homage to The Searchers with the title character being similar to John Wayne's character and the vampires being similar to the Comanche. The animated prologue for the film was created by American animator and director Genndy Tartakovsky.

Priest was released in the United States and Canada on May 13, 2011. The film's release date changed numerous times in 2010 and 2011. It was originally scheduled for October 1, 2010, but it moved earlier to August 27, 2010 to fill a weekend slot when another Screen Gems film, Resident Evil: Afterlife, was postponed.

When the filmmakers wanted to convert Priest from 2D to 3D, the film was newly scheduled for release on January 14, 2011. It was delayed again to May 13, 2011 so the film could attract summertime audiences.

Priest was released outside the United States and Canada on May 6, 2011 in four markets. It grossed an estimated $5.6 million over the weekend, with "decent debuts" of $2.9 million in Russia and $1.8 million in Spain.

It performed poorly in the United Kingdom with under $700,000. The film was released in the United States and Canada on May 13, 2011 in 2,864 theaters with 2,006 having 3D screenings.

It grossed an estimated $14.5 million over the weekend, ranking fourth at the box office. Its performance was considered subpar compared to similar films in the Underworld series and Resident Evil series.

To date, Priest has grossed an estimated $29.1 million in the United States and Canada and $47.4 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $76.5 million.

Priest was largely panned by critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 16% based on reviews from 92 critics and reports a rating average of 3.9 out of 10 with a consensus that "Priest is admittedly sleek and stylish, but those qualities are wasted on a dull, derivative blend of sci-fi, action, and horror cliches".

At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 41 based on 13 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". CinemaScore polls reported that the average grade audiences gave the film was a "C+" on an A+ to F scale.

Priest Trailer

Resources: Wikipedia.org, imdb.com

Plot & Screenshots

The movie opens in Sola Mira Hive, where Priest (Paul Bettany), Priestess (Maggie Q) and Black Hat (Karl Urban) hunt vampires. They are caught in a trap, and Black Hat is captured by vampires.

An animated story gives the background - man vs. vampire, destroying each other and the land. Man withdrew behind the safety of the church, and are defended by priests, men with extraordinary abilities.

After the vampires were defeated, the priests were sent back into the general population, no longer needed. Owen Pace (Stephen Moyer) lives on a farm in the wasteland with his wife Shannon (Madchen Amick) and daughter Lucy (Lily Collins).

The land is arid, but he has hopes that the radiation levels will soon be low enough to plant crops. Lucy is resentful of their sheltered existence, and during dinner, vampires attack.

Owen is hurt and Shannon is killed, and Lucy screams. In the futuristic Cathedral City, church messages from Monsignor Orelas (Christopher Plummer) are broadcast to the public, as Priest walks through the crowds.

He goes to confession, but the advice is a recording. On the way home, Hicks (Cam Gigandet) tells Priest his brother Owen was attacked. He goes on to say that he's going after the vampires, and asks Priest to help him.

Priest goes the church to ask to go after the vampires. Orelas doesn't believe that it was vampires, and warns Priest not to question the church's faith. Priest breaks his vow. Lucy is imprisioned on a train, and Black Hat is her captor.

Priest arms himself and hops on a futuristic cycle to travel to the wasteland. He visits his brother's place, and meets up with Hicks. They go to see Owen, and he asks Priest to recsue Lucy and kill all the vampires.

Meanwhile, Monsignor Orelas sends a posse of priests after Priest to capture or kill him. Priest begins to track the vampires. They arrive at a vampire reservation, and find the guards gone. Priest and Hicks enter the underground hive and find the guards, dead.

Hicks is attacked by familiars, and Priest takes them apart. The sun goes down, and the vampires emerge. They fight them off, and a familiar tells them Lucy has been taken west, to the Sola Mira Hive.

An informant tells Black Hat about Priest and Hicks, and Black Hat turns him. Priest and Hicks arrive at the Hive, which brings flashbacks to Priest. He leaves Hicks at the entrance, and moves deeper into the hive.

Along the way, he finds the Priestess, and they battle a hive guardian. Hicks helps them kill it. They track the vampire army to the town of Jericho, where the Black Hat's train is.

Black Hat's army is killing the inhabitants, and the rest of the chuch posse tries to stop him. By the time Priest, Hicks and Priestess arrive, the town is deserted.

The other priests are crucified, and Prist realizes the vampires are headed to the city. They plan to head off the train, stop the vampires, and rescue Lucy. Priestess and Priest share a moment, and she gives him a special cross.

On the way to the train, Hicks learns that Lucy is Priest's daughter. Priest and Hicks get on the train, and Priestess drives ahead to blow the tracks. On top of the train Black Hat confronts Priest, and tells him how he became a human vampire - through the blood of the Queen.

Black Hat is now stronger than Priest. Priestess fights off familiars on motorcycles, but one of them has destroyed the detonator for the explosives. Hicks fights his way through vampires, and finds Lucy. Priest joins him, and they pursue.

Black Hat attacks and knocks Hicks off the train. Hicks finds a motorcycle and gives chase. Black Hat nails Priest to a wall and sets him on fire. Priestess arms the explosives and drives her motorcycle to the train.

Meanwhile, Priest arms himself with her special cross and throws it at Black Hat. He rescues Lucy, and Priestess' bomb destroys the train. Hicks arrives and finds Priest holding Lucy. She realizes Priest is her father, and even Priestess has survived.

Priest returns to the church and throws a vampire head at the feet of Orelas. He tells Orelas that the war is just beginning, and rejoins Priestess in the hunt for vampires.