Blade (franchise)
| Blade | |
|---|---|
 The Blade Trilogy DVD box set | |
| Directed by | Stephen Norrington (Blade) Guillermo del Toro (Blade II) David S. Goyer (Blade: Trinity) |
| Written by | David S. Goyer |
| Based on | |
| Starring | Wesley Snipes |
| Music by | Mark Isham (Blade) Marco Beltrami (Blade II) Ramin Djawadi (Blade: Trinity) |
| Distributed by | New Line Cinema |
Release date | 1998–2006 |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $164 million[1] |
| Box office | $415 million |
Blade is a film and television franchise based on the fictional Marvel Comics superhero of the same name, portrayed by Wesley Snipes in the film series and Sticky Fingaz on the television series. The films were written by David S. Goyer (who directed the third film and also served as a co-writer for the TV series in the first two and last episodes), based on the comics by Marv Wolfman, and Gene Colan. The three films were directed by Stephen Norrington, Guillermo del Toro and Goyer respectively, and distributed by New Line Cinema.
The character was created in 1973 for Marvel Comics by writer Marv Wolfman and artist Gene Colan as a supporting character in the 1970s comic The Tomb of Dracula. In the comic, Blade's mother was bitten by a vampire while she was in labor with Blade.
Films
Blade (1998)
Blade grows up to become a Vampire Hunter, swearing vengeance on the creatures that killed his mother. He teams up with a man called Whistler, a retired vampire hunter and weapons expert.
Meanwhile, in the urban underworld, a feud is started between "pure-blood" vampires and those who had been human, but were "turned." Blade becomes aware of this and investigates further, uncovering a plot to raise the blood god La Magra, something he must stop at all costs.
Blade II (2002)
A rare mutation has occurred within the vampire community. "Reapers" are vampires so consumed with an insatiable bloodlust that they prey on vampires as well as humans, transforming victims who are unlucky enough to survive into Reapers themselves. Now their quickly expanding population threatens the existence of vampires, and soon there won't be enough humans in the world to satisfy their bloodlust. Blade, Whistler and an armory expert named Scud are curiously summoned by the Shadow Council. The council reluctantly admits that they are in a dire situation and they require Blade's assistance. Blade then tenuously enters into an alliance with The Bloodpack, an elite team of vampires who were trained in all modes of combat to defeat Blade. They'll use their skills instead to help wipe out the Reaper threat. Blade's team and the Bloodpack are the only line of defense which can prevent the Reaper population from wiping out the vampire and human populations.
Blade: Trinity (2004)
In the final installment of the series, the vampires succeed in framing Blade for the killing of a human (who was in fact a familiar being used as bait). Blade, now in the public's eye and wanted by the FBI, has to join forces with the Nightstalkers, a human clan of vampire hunters. Blade, Hannibal King, and Abigail Whistler go after Danica Talos, who has succeeded in locating and resurrecting Drake, also known as Dracula, the first vampire and by far the most powerful. In order to stop him, Blade has to release a virus that will wipe out all vampires, but being a dhampir, he must face the possibility of also dying as a result.
Television
Blade (2006)
In 2006, Spike TV aired a thirteen-episode series set after the events of Blade: Trinity, with Sticky Fingaz portraying Blade, replacing Snipes.
Cast and crew
Cast
| Character | Original series | Television series | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blade | Blade II | Blade: Trinity | Blade | |
| 1998 | 2002 | 2004 | 2006 | |
| Eric Brooks Blade |
Wesley Snipes | Sticky Fingaz Jon Kent Ethridge (young) | ||
| Abraham Whistler | Kris Kristofferson | Adrian Glynn McMorran | ||
| Deacon Frost | Stephen Dorff | Mentioned | ||
| Dr. Karen Jenson | N'Bushe Wright | |||
| Quinn | Donal Logue | |||
| 'Mercury' | Arly Jover | |||
| Vanessa Brooks | Sanaa Lathan | |||
| Racquel | Traci Lords | |||
| Gitano Dragonetti | Udo Kier | |||
| Eli Damaskinos | Thomas Kretschmann | |||
| Jared Nomak | Luke Goss | |||
| 'Priest' | Tony Curran | |||
| Nyssa Damaskinos | Leonor Varela | |||
| Dieter Reinhardt | Ron Perlman | |||
| Asad | Danny John-Jules | |||
| 'Snowman' | Donnie Yen | |||
| 'Chupa' | Matt Schulze | |||
| 'Scud' | Norman Reedus | |||
| Dracula / Drake | Dominic Purcell | |||
| Abigail Whistler | Jessica Biel | |||
| Hannibal King | Ryan Reynolds | |||
| Danica Talos | Parker Posey | |||
| Dr. Edgar Vance | John Michael Higgins | |||
| Jarko Grimwood | Triple H | |||
| Asher Talos | Callum Keith Rennie | |||
| Krista Starr | Jill Wagner | |||
| Shen | Nelson Lee | |||
| Marcus Van Sciver | Neil Jackson | |||
| 'Chase' | Jessica Gower | |||
| FBI Agent Ray Collins | Larry Poindexter | |||
Crew
| Film | Director | Producer | Writer | Composer | Cinematographer | Editor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blade | Stephen Norrington | Peter Frankfurt Wesley Snipes Robert Engelman Andrew J. Horne |
David S. Goyer | Mark Isham | Theo van de Sande | Paul Rubell |
| Blade II | Guillermo del Toro | Peter Frankfurt Wesley Snipes Patrick Palmer |
Marco Beltrami | Gabriel Beristain | Peter Amundson | |
| Blade: Trinity | David S. Goyer | Peter Frankfurt Wesley Snipes David S. Goyer Lynn Harris |
Ramin Djawadi | Conrad Smart Howard E. Smith |
Reception
Box office performance
| Film | Release date | Box office gross | All time ranking | Budget | Reference | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North America | Other territories | Worldwide | North America | ||||
| Blade | August 21, 1998 | $70,087,718 | $61,095,812 | $131,183,530 | #724 | $45 million | [2][3] |
| Blade II | March 22, 2002 | $82,348,319 | $72,661,713 | $155,010,032 | #558 | $54 million | [4] |
| Blade: Trinity | December 8, 2004 | $52,411,906 | $76,493,460 | $128,905,366 | #1,036 | $65 million | [5] |
| Total | $204,847,943 | $210,250,985 | $415,098,928 | $164 million | |||
Critical and public response
| Film | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic | CinemaScore |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blade | 56% (104 reviews)[6] | 45 (23 reviews)[7] | A–[8] |
| Blade II | 57% (151 reviews)[9] | 52 (28 reviews)[10] | B+[8] |
| Blade: Trinity | 25% (169 reviews)[11] | 38 (30 reviews)[12] | B+[8] |
| Blade: The Series | 50% (18 reviews)[13] | 49 (15 reviews)[14] | — |
Music
Soundtracks
| Year | Title | Chart positions | Certifications (sales thresholds) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. | U.S. R&B | |||
| 1998 | Blade
|
36 | 28 |
|
| 2002 | Blade II
|
26 | 23 | |
| 2004 | Blade: Trinity
|
– | 68 | |
References
- ^ "Blade Franchise Box Office History - The Numbers". The Numbers.
- ^ "Blade (1998)". Box Office Mojo. Box Office Mojo, LLC. Retrieved December 4, 2009.
- ^ "Blade Production Budget". The-Numbers. Retrieved December 4, 2009.
- ^ "Blade II (2002)". Box Office Mojo. Box Office Mojo, LLC. Retrieved December 4, 2009.
- ^ "Blade: Trinity (2004)". Box Office Mojo. Box Office Mojo, LLC. Retrieved December 4, 2009.
- ^ "Blade". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
- ^ "Blade (1998)". Metacritic. CNET Networks, Inc. Retrieved December 4, 2009.
- ^ a b c "Cinemascore". CinemaScore. Archived from the original on December 20, 2018.
- ^ "Blade II". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
- ^ "Blade II (2002)". Metacritic. CNET Networks, Inc. Retrieved December 4, 2009.
- ^ "Blade: Trinity". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
- ^ "Blade: Trinity (2004)". Metacritic. CNET Networks, Inc. Retrieved December 4, 2009.
- ^ "Blade: The Series: Season 1". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
- ^ "Blade". Metacritic. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
External links
Created by Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan | |||||||||||
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