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* [[Joel Polinsky]] as Dr. Tomlin
* [[Joel Polinsky]] as Dr. Tomlin
* [[Josh Wingate]] as Familiar
* [[Josh Wingate]] as Familiar
* [[Mark Noel Rubino]] as The Brown Monkey


==Production==
==Production==

Revision as of 16:19, 26 August 2011

Priest
Paul Bettany in character, wearing priestly garb and having a Christian cross tattooed on his face, stands against the background of a futuristic city.
Theatrical release poster
Directed byScott Stewart
Written byCory Goodman
Produced byMichael DeLuca
Joshua Donen
Mitchell Peck
StarringPaul Bettany
CinematographyDon Burgess
Edited byLisa Zeno Churgin
Music byChristopher Young
Production
company
Distributed byScreen Gems
Release date
  • May 13, 2011 (2011-05-13)
Running time
87 minutes
CountryTemplate:Film US
LanguageEnglish
Budget$60 million
Box office$76.5 million[1]

Priest is a 2011 American supernatural action film starring Paul Bettany as the title character. The film, directed by Scott Stewart, is loosely based on the Korean comic of the same name. In an alternate world, humanity and vampires have warred for centuries. After the last Vampire War, the veteran Warrior Priest (Bettany) lives in obscurity with other humans inside one of the Church's walled cities. When the Priest's niece (Lily Collins) is kidnapped by vampires, the Priest breaks his vows to hunt them down. He is accompanied by the niece's boyfriend (Cam Gigandet), who is a wasteland sheriff, and a former Warrior Priestess (Maggie Q).[2]

The film first entered development in 2005, when Screen Gems bought the spec script by Cory Goodman. In 2006 Andrew Douglas was attached to direct and Gerard Butler was attached to star. They were eventually replaced by Stewart and Bettany in 2009 and filming started in Los Angeles, California, later in the year. The film changed release dates numerous times throughout 2010 and 2011. It was especially pushed back from 2010 to 2011 to convert the film from 2D to 3D. It was released in the United States and Canada on May 13, 2011.

Plot

For centuries, a war has existed between the humans and the vampires. Locked in mortal combat for centuries, their war has saturated the planet's surface, making it unable to support life. The Church created the walled cities to protect mankind, ultimately creating an elite group of warriors to turn the tide against the vampires. They were dubbed "Priests", humans blessed by God who were capable of slaying vampires. The majority of the vampires were killed while the remainder were placed in reservations. With the war over, the Clergy, fearing what they had created, disbanded the Priests. Outside the cities, humans live free from the totalitarian control of the Church.

One day, a Priest is approached by Hicks, the sheriff of a nearby town called Augustine. Hicks tells him that his brother Owen was mortally wounded by a vamp-attack. His sister-in-law and ex-girlfriend Shannon was killed, and Priest's niece, Lucy, was kidnapped. Hicks asks for Priest's assistance in tracking down Lucy. Priest goes to the Clergy begging to have his authority reinstated, but the Head of the Clergy doesn't believe these claims and refuses. He goes further by threatening Priest not to take any action. Upset and disillusioned, Priest goes against the wishes of Monsignor Orelas, the Church's leader, to do so. Monsignor Orelas then sends a group of four other Priests led by Priestess, a former comrade to Priest, to track him down, capture him and bring him back, dead or alive.

After saying goodbye to his dying brother, Priest and Hicks arrive at a Nightshade Reservation where turned humans called Familiars (people infected with a pathogen that makes them subservient to the vampires) live. After a fierce fight against the Familiars and the remaining vampires, the pair discover that the vampires have taken shelter in Sola Mira, a vampire hive where Priest lost several of his comrade Priests in a botched/suicidal mission. There, they are joined by Priestess, who decides to help him because she is in love with him. The trio destroy a Hive Guardian, a large and vicious vampire, and then discover that the vampires have bred a new army, and dug a tunnel out of the mountain towards a town called Jericho. The other three Priests have arrived at Jericho, right as an armored train has arrived, unleashing hundreds of vampires upon the population, and all lead by a powerful and mysterious individual, who they recognize as a former Priest himself. However, the man, who wears a black hat, offers them a chance to join him, or die. The Priests refuse, and Black Hat defeats and kills them all, leaving them to hang on crosses for others to see.

Priest, Priestess and Hicks arrive in Jericho while the sun is up, and discover the town empty and the three Priests crucified. Shocked and confused at what has happened, Priest eventually realizes that the vampires have been using the trains to travel by day and attack the towns by night. They also realize that the trainline ends at the walled cities. However, because of the factories producing massive amounts of smoke and ash clouds, there is no sun, even in the daylight. Realizing that it will be a slaughter, Priest and his partners head out after them in order to stop the train from reaching the city.

While Priestess plants a bomb on the railroad tracks in order to stop the train, Priest and Hicks board the train and confront Black Hat, the vampires, and familiars. Black Hat overpowers both Priest and Hicks. Black Hat reveals that the vampire Queen gave him her blood, turning him into the first vampire-human hybrid. He asks Priest to join him. Priest refuses and fights Black Hat, who reveals the truth of Lucy's parentage to the girl. Priestess meanwhile battles several Familiars who are trying to stop her from detonating the tracks, only to have the detonator be destroyed. She then places the explosives on her bike, and rams it into the train engine. The explosion kills the vampires and seemingly engulfs Black Hat in fire, but Hicks, Priest, Priestess and Lucy are able to escape.

Priest returns to the city and confronts Monsignor Orelas, telling him of the burnt train containing the vampires' bodies, which he proves by throwing a vampire head onto the floor. Monsignor Orelas doesn't believe him, declaring that the war is over and Priest's proof is trickery, only to have Priest tell him that it's just beginning as he walks out. Once he leaves the city and meets with Priestess, she reveals that the other Priests have been notified and will meet them at a rendezvous point. Priest sets off into the sunset to later meet up with other priests.

Cast

Production

The priests of our story are like Jedi knights. They have these supernatural abilities to fight vampires and they saved humanity before the movie even begins. Now, a generation later, society has moved on from war, and the priests are like pariahs. They're almost like Vietnam vets—they've been cast aside by society and they're now reviled and feared.

— Director Scott Stewart[3]

Priest is directed by Scott Stewart and written by Cory Goodman. The film is based on the 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.[4] In January 2006, Andrew Douglas, who directed The Amityville Horror, was attached to direct Priest.[5] 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.[6] By March 2009, Douglas was replaced by Stewart, who impressed Screen Gems with Legion.[7] Paul Bettany replaced Butler in the starring role.[8] With a budget of $60 million,[9] filming began in August 2009 in Los Angeles, California,[10] and it concluded in November 2009.[11] The film is the most expensive production from Screen Gems, to date.[9]

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. The director described Priest's vampires as not being human in origin, and humans bitten by vampires became familiars instead.[12] 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 an homage to The Searchers with the title character being similar to John Wayne's character and the vampires being similar to the Comanche.[13]

Theatrical release

Priest was released in the United States and Canada on May 13, 2011.[1] The film's release date changed numerous times in 2010 and 2011.[14] It was originally scheduled for October 1, 2010,[11] but it moved earlier to August 27, 2010 to fill a weekend slot when another Screen Gems film, Resident Evil: Afterlife, was postponed.[15] When the filmmakers wanted to convert Priest from 2D to 3D, the film was newly scheduled for release on January 14, 2011.[16] It was delayed again to May 13, 2011 so the film could attract summertime audiences.[17]

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.[18] The film was released in the United States and Canada on May 13, 2011 in 2,864 theaters with 2,006 having 3D screenings.[19] 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.[20] 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.[1]

Critical reception

Priest was panned by critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 17% based on reviews from 69 critics and reports a rating average of 4 out of 10. It reported the overall consensus, "Priest is admittedly sleek and stylish, but those qualities are wasted on a dull, derivative blend of sci-fi, action, and horror cliches."[21] 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''.[22]

See also

  • Legion (2010 film), also directed by Scott Stewart and starring Paul Bettany
  • Vampire film, about vampires in cinema and other films featuring vampires

References

  1. ^ a b c "Priest (2011)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved June 7, 2011. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  2. ^ "Priest". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved January 25, 2011. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  3. ^ Marshall, Rick (August 24, 2010). "Why Post-Apocalyptic 'Priest' Won't Be Your Regular Vampire Story". MTV. Archived from the original on January 28, 2010. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= and |archivedate= (help)
  4. ^ Laporte, Nicole (March 7, 2005). "Screen Gems stakes claim to 'Priest' pic". Variety. Archived from the original on January 25, 2011. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= and |archivedate= (help)
  5. ^ "Douglas pulls 'Priest' horror". Variety. January 24, 2006. Archived from the original on January 25, 2011. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= and |archivedate= (help)
  6. ^ Laporte, Nicole (June 25, 2006). "Screen Gems collars 'Priest'". Variety. Archived from the original on January 25, 2011. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= and |archivedate= (help)
  7. ^ "'Psy-Ops' mission for 'Legion' director Scott Stewart". The Hollywood Reporter. October 14, 2009. Archived from the original on January 25, 2011. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= and |archivedate= (help)
  8. ^ Kit, Borys (March 31, 2009). "Paul Bettany to battle vampires in 'Priest'". Reuters. Archived from the original on January 25, 2011. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= and |archivedate= (help)
  9. ^ a b Kaufman, Amy (May 12, 2011). "Movie Projector: 'Priest' to flop, 'Bridesmaids' looks decent, but 'Thor' will pound both". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 12, 2011. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  10. ^ "Two More Join Bettany's Priest". Empire. August 24, 2009. Archived from the original on January 25, 2011. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= and |archivedate= (help)
  11. ^ a b "Priest Wraps Production in L.A." ShockTillYouDrop.com. November 23, 2009. Archived from the original on January 25, 2011. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= and |archivedate= (help)
  12. ^ Warmoth, Brian (January 28, 2010). "'Priest' Director Reveals His Vampires' Origins And Creator Min-Woo Hyung's Role In The Film". MTV. Archived from the original on January 25, 2011. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= and |archivedate= (help)
  13. ^ Wax, Alyse (January 22, 2010). "Exclusive: Director Scott Stewart Talks 'Priest'". FEARnet. Archived from the original on January 28, 2011. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= and |archivedate= (help)
  14. ^ Subers, Ray (April 23, 2010). "'Green Hornet' Adds 3D, Moves to 2011". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on January 28, 2011. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= and |archivedate= (help)
  15. ^ Vejvoda, Jim (December 10, 2009). "Priest Takes RE4's Place". IGN. Archived from the original on January 28, 2011. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= and |archivedate= (help)
  16. ^ Goellner, Caleb (February 5, 2010). "'Priest' Gets 3D Treatment, New Release Date". MTV. Archived from the original on January 28, 2010. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= and |archivedate= (help)
  17. ^ Marnell, Blair (June 17, 2010). "'Priest' Pushed Back To Summer 2011". MTV. Archived from the original on January 28, 2011. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= and |archivedate= (help)
  18. ^ Subers, Ray (May 10, 2011). "Around-the-World Roundup: 'Fast Five' Vanquishes 'Thor'". Box Office Mojo. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  19. ^ Stewart, Andrew (May 13, 2011). "'Bridesmaids,' 'Priest' face tentpoles at B.O." Variety. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  20. ^ Subers, Ray (May 15, 2011). "Weekend Report: 'Thor' Holds on to Throne, 'Bridesmaids' a Strong Second". Box Office Mojo. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  21. ^ "Priest Movie Reviews". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved May 25, 2011. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  22. ^ "Priest Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved May 25, 2011. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)

External links

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