Queen of the Damned (2002)

Plot: The vampire Lestat has arisen from a long sleep and becomes a rock star. His music awakens Akasha, mother of all vampires, from her centuries long slumber. She now looks to reshape the world in her own twisted image.

News:

15 January, 2002

The first trailer for this movie can now be found online.

• Lo-Res MOV (240x180)
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11 December, 2001

The late R&B star Aaliyah's official website has posted the poster for Queen of the Damned. You can see a copy to the right.

19 November, 2001

The UK release date is set for April 19th.

8 November, 2001

Want to have a look at some footage from the movie? Then just follow this link to GrayMatterFX.

31 August, 2001

The New York Post reports that Warner Bros. is still waffling over potentially sending this movie straight to video. However, following the recent death of Aaliyah, they may now be leaning toward a theatrical release. The rational would be that increased interest in the late singer/actress might improve the film's box office receipts. The paper goes on to report that sources who had seen the movie described it as unwatchable.

If this report is true then this is a pretty shameless attempt to make some money off the death of a star. However, since our previous report indicated that the direct to video plan was just a rumor and considering the Post's weak track record on entertainment news, I'd suspect that Warners was already planning a theatrical release.

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3 July, 2001

It appears that the direct to video rumor was just that, a rumor. Coming Attractions reports that Warner Bros. is still planning a theatrical release for the film sometime in 2002.

2 July, 2001

Just how bad is this movie? Would you believe bad enough to bypass theaters all together and head straight to video? That's the word from columnist Andy Jones of E! Online.

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15 March, 2001

The movie's official website has opened but it's probably not worth the trip. It features a brief synopsis of the story and a photo of Aaliyah as the vampire queen Akasha.

Stuart Townsend talked to ShowBiz Ireland about playing the role of the vampire Lestat. He isn't worried about comparisons to the Interview with the Vampire. "The only similarity is that both movies are based on Anne Rice books - the look and feel are totally different," the actor told the press.. "Playing a vampire is like getting dressed up for a Halloween costume ball - it's a little glam, a little camp and very removed from who I am."

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14 February, 2001

Have a look at the title character of this movie. Yes that is Akasha, mother of all vampires. Doesn't exactly look threatening does she? Instead of a vampire queen or an ancient Egyptian queen she looks more like a Vegas showgirl.

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5 December, 2000

The Age has a couple of great stories on the filming so far. One story talks about the filming of one of Lestat's concerts. Hundreds of goth types have been bussed from Melbourne to a quarry near Werribee.

Our first scene involves a song we're all supposed to know - the plot here is that Lestat has an enormous following of pretty young things in black who don't know he's a real vampire. Yet. The song has a tacky chorus ("I see hell in your eyes ... touching you makes me die inside"), which Watts leads us through. It's actually a fine song that grows on us as the night goes on and we hear it 50 times. It helps that it was written by Jonathan Davis from Korn. One girl nearby, Jen, 19, throws herself into the spirit of the night: every time we hear the opening bars, she squeals loudly "oh, I LOVE this song!".

The variety of clothing is astounding. For weeks the website has advertised that the best dressed will get the best positions, so there's been Effort. Many of the outfits have been sewn especially, with PVC a popular fabric. Bright reds, deep purples and shocking greens compete with the overwhelming darkness of the blacks. Anyone in heels is seriously regretting it. There are some abominations: bad black wigs on people who are obviously not goths in their regular lives, although some carry it off. One, though, looks like he dressed for Detroit Rock City by accident.

The other story goes into some detail on filming of a nightclub scene. Most interesting though is an interview with the director Michael Rymer.

"The pressure to make the film good is purely - I mean, everyone wants the film to be good - but I'm most concerned that it's my baby. When people say, 'wow, it looks fantastic, this is going to make a huge amount of money', that's not as interesting to me as saying 'this is going to be a wonderful film and really take people on a journey'. My main agenda is always to have more creative control, which has been a bit of a struggle when you get into business with the studios. Traditionally, a studio doesn't want an auteur.

"Much of the preparation for this film was conceptualising the script, so I knew that it was important to try and fight all my battles before we got to set, which we largely did. It's all very collaborative, it's not confrontational. No one's telling me what to do. Everyone wants me to feel like this is the film I want to make."

There's a telling pause. But? "But the system is built to work by committee, so you're always dealing with large numbers of people in any creative key decision, and one can't help but be beaten around by the energy expended. It does deplete you of energy having to deal with a committee.

"I have to say, I feel good about the collaboration. There are so many horror stories about directors being railroaded, but no one's railroaded me. That's (probably because of) the nature of the film, too. A rock and roll vampire movie? Very tricky to pull off. It could be too camp. It could be ridiculous. It just could not work at all. So they know they have to let me try and bring my point of view and attitude to it, otherwise it ain't going to work.

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23 October, 2000

Filming has begun, believe it or not, and crowd scenes have been shot for the outside of Lestat's rock concert. The crowd is an appropriate mix of goth types with some fascinating signs. Above them can be seen the posters advertising the concert.

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4 October, 2000

Claudia Black, star of popular sci-fi series Farscape, has signed on to play the vampire Pandora in the movie. She posted an announcement on the boards over at Sci-Fi yesterday.

Hello there beautiful people!

We are all suffering from post Olympic syndrome after a surprisingly exciting fortnight of sport and entertainment. I am officially very proud to be an aussie (aussie aussie, oi,oi,oi!!!)

My reason for posting today is to let you know that I have been cast to play Vampire Pandora in the sequel to Interview With a Vampire.

For those of you who have read Anne Rice's books, be prepared for some filmic licence and adaptation, if you know what I mean. While being losely called the sequel, The Queen of the Damned is not the book which directly follows interview and will not star Tom Cruise nor Brad Pitt.

I do not post this bit of news to boast, rather to recognize the enormous support I have received from you all on the BB and thank you for it as I feel You have instilled me with a confidence which has pushed me forward.

For those of you who out of loyalty went to support Pitch Black I can at least promise this time that although Pandora is a small support role, she will not be knocked off early!

Love and light to you all and thanks again for your continued support not only of Farscape but also of all the people who are bringing it to you.

Your chick with gun,
Claudia

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25 September, 2000

According to Dark Horizons, Vincent Perez has just arrived in Melbourne, Australia. Why is that of interest? Apparently Perez has been cast in the role of the ancient vampire Marius. In the novels, Marius created the vampire Armand and served as a mentor of sorts for Lestat. Reportedly in this adaptation of the novels, Marius is now Lestat's creator, short circuiting almost the entire narative of the novel The Vampire Lestat. Sigh...

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13 September, 2000

According to Popcorn this movie has started filming in Australia. Aaliyah talked to them about the movie, set six years after the end of Interview With the Vampire. "It's mainly about Lestat's life becoming a rock star and the Queen Mother," Aaliyah says, adding that the film charts "what happens when she comes back and basically wants to take over everything. It's a really cool story. It's definitely creepy. It's scary, it's sexy... it'll be fun."

7 September, 2000

Do you live in Melbourne Australia? Would you like to be in a movie? Go to Screenfaces.com and you can apply to be an extra in the movie. Needed are young (15-17) Goth types to play fans of Lestat's band. Piercings and tattoos are a plus. Also needed are people to play vampires and street people. Ragged looking folks between 50 and 60, drag queens and kids can fill these roles. The actual band has openings, particularly for a femal keyboardist. Actual musicians only, preferably with live performance experience. A southern US accent will be needed as the band is from New Orleans initially.

29 August, 2000

The cast is starting to fill out. Lena Olin and Margerite Moreau are close to signing on to the cast. Stuart Townsend will be playing the vampire Lestat in the lead role. Moreau would be playing the part of Jessie, the vampire hunter who falls for Lestat. Olin would be playing her aunt, who tries to keep her from going to Lestat's concerts.

9 August, 2000

Singer Aaliyah is currently scheduled to head for Australia in September to begin shooting the movie adaptation of Anne Rice's novel Queen of the Damned. Michael Rymer will be directing the sequel to Interview With the Vampire, which will combine elements of Rice's second vampire novel The Vampire Lestat with Queen of the Damned, the third book in the series.

Aaliyah talked with MTV Radio about the project. "I'm trying to finish it [her next album] before I go to Australia, actually in October and September, to start work and shoot the next film for Warner Bros., which is 'Queen Of The Damned.' It's a go, so I'll start shooting soon.

"I play Akasha," Aaliyah continued, "who is the Queen and the first, original vampire. That's me. It's a good part. I've been working with my coach. I work with him all the time, and I've been working extra hard to prepare for this and get comfortable with what she's all about so I can do it the right way."

Asked how she was preparing for the role she points out she won't go to extremes. "I'm a night person, so I guess you could say I kind of have [the part] in me, anyway. I'm a bit of a vampire for real. I like the dark, I like the night, so I really don't have to take it to [the extreme of] sleeping in coffins. Other than that, I'm just preparing for it the normal way. It's a fun role, 'cause I've always loved vampires since I was a little girl, so the chance to get to be one is amazing."

Ironically, she hasn't yet read the book. "Actually, I had read 'The Vampire Lestat' [before auditioning]," Aaliyah said. "I hadn't gotten to 'Queen Of The Damned,' which is the third book in the Anne Rice series in [The Vampire] Chronicles, so I actually have the book, and I'm reading 'Queen Of The Damned' now that the movie's happening."

18 July, 2000

For some bizarre reason, following the success of Interview with the Vampire, Warner Bros. decided to skip the second book in the series of Anne Rice novels that the movie was based on, and go straight to the third book. Why? I'm guessing because that book contained rock music and explosions. The fact that the movie wouldn't make a lot of sense without the backstory of it's main character Lestat, layed out in the second book, didn't seem to matter much. Their plan was to essentially combine the two books while focusing on the storyline of the third novel.

Now the main problem with adapting most books is that there is too much material for a movie to successfully incorporate. Considering that it would seem inconceivable to try and put two books together for a movie. Unsurprisingly that has made the movie near impossible to produce as conceived. Author Anne Rice has essentially divorced herself from the project while quietly hoping that Warner Bros. can't get the production in gear by October of this year, in which case the movie rights revert back to her.

Complicating things is the fact that Warner Bros. can't seem to get a lead actor to sign on. Lestat was originially portrayed by Tom Cruise. For the sequel they have attempted to sign Wes Bentley (American Beauty), Heath Ledger (The Patriot), Josh Hartnett (Pearl Harbor) and most recently Stuart Townsend.

Why is it so hard to find someone to play the role? Maybe because the script stinks. To validate that comment we turn to esteemed script reviewer Stax. He got a hold of and reviewed the draft by director Michael Rymer. This copy is at least the third rewrite.

This draft of Queen of the Damned aimed to be an epic horror tale, part romance and part action, that spanned from ancient Egypt to the Mediterranean islands in 1788 and, finally, to Los Angeles at the dawn of the new millennium. It tried to condense Anne Rice's book down into a two and a quarter hour-long film but was unwilling to excise characters or back stories that would make the main narrative more engaging and comprehensible. If Michael Rymer wants to center his film around Lestat and Jesse then he should excise many of these other subplots and supporting characters. Basic questions were never answered by this draft: whose story was this? Who am I supposed to care about? What the heck was all this about anyway? Hopefully, Rymer's subsequent drafts will be major improvements over this one. My gut tells me, though, that the filmmakers have simply bitten off too much to chew and could likely end up with a sprawling mess on their hands. After being an inactive project for so many years, Warner Brothers is now rushing to get this film made and it clearly showed here. (Wasn't Roger Corman's atrocious Fantastic Four also made in a hurry so that the producers wouldn't lose the film rights?) After reading this draft, I fear that Anne Rice was correct in assuming that Queen of the Damned is a film that simply wasn't meant to be. - STAX

To read the entire review, head to Stax's home at FilmForce.

18 May, 2000

As we all know, this movie's on bright spot, Wes Bentley as Lestat, ran screaming for the hills shortly after being named the star. Smart move on his part. Warner Bros. is now getting a bit desperate. They have to get this movie into production by the end of the year or the lose the movie rights (much to author Anne Rice's delight). A new Lestat hasn't been signed yet but they are now focused on Josh Hartnett. He is currently working on Michael Bay's Pearl Harbor so it will be interesting to see if he has the time in his schedule to maked this movie by the deadline. It would certainly be good for him, giving him his first solo leading role.

14 April, 2000

The lone ray of sunshine for this project has abruptly exited stage left. Wes Bentley has left the project citing exhaustion from the previous year's work. He hadn't actually signed on to the project yet. Negotiations were complete except for his signature.

This causes a serious problem for the project. Warner Bros.' rights to Anne Rice's novel expire this October. She is on the record as saying she is against the way it is being handled. This means if they can't get the project started in time they will lose the rights and a fair bit of money already invested in it. Filming was scheduled to begin in late August in Australia. Aaliyah has signed on to star as the Queen.

13 April, 2000

It would appear that Aaliyah has signed on to the cast of Queen of the Damned. The sequel to Interview With The Vampire, to be based on Anne Rice's third vampire book, has already signed Wes Bentley (American Beauty) to play the vampire Lestat, previously portrayed by Tom Cruise.

According to Coming Attractions, Aaliyah was being interview on a Washington D.C. radio station about her most recent movie Romeo Must Die. She said that she has received a lot scripts recently but that her next project was Queen of the Damned in which she would play a vampire.

1 March, 2000

It's all but official. Wes Bentley will take over the role of the vampire Lestat for Warner Bros. adaptation of Anne Rice's novel, The Queen of the Damned. Michael Rymer will direct the picture which should start filming in Australia this spring. The script is by Scott Abbott and Michael Petroni.

The story is a combination of the novels The Vampire Lestat and Queen of the Damned. In it Lestat becomes a rock star and his music manages to awaken the ancient vampire Akasha. Along the way he encounters a vampire hunter who falls in love with him. This character is probably based on the character of Jessie from the book I'm guessing. The main problem here is that this will brutally shorten not one book but two. Clearly Warner Bros. wanted to use Queen because it contained loud music and explosions where as Lestat is a purely character driven story. I can't say as I'm thrilled with what they are doing to the story but at least they have a solid actor in Bentley to handle the lead.

22 February, 2000

Rumors are starting to fly about rapidly on this sequel to Interview With The Vampire now. First we heard that Korn had been hired for music in the movie. Since the book Queen of the Damned concerns the vampire Lestat becoming a rock star in the modern world, this makes sense. He's going to need some music to play.

The news today is that Wes Bentley (American Beauty) is being seriously considered for the part of Lestat. This is probably the first bit of good news on this project. Bentley impressed the hell out of me in American Beauty. There is an intensity there that would suit Lestat extremely well.

I'm extremely wary of the project at this point because of the rumor that they want to compress the books The Vampire Lestat and Queen of the Damned together in one movie. If true this could make for a serious mess. Either one of the books probably has way too much material for a movie. Together it would be unfilmable. If however they intend to only use Queen of the Damned then I'm a lot less worried. Disappointed that there won't be a movie of The Vampire Lestat but not alarmed.

21 February, 2000

It appears that this project is well under way. In a chat on Talk City, Korn frontman Jonathon Davis revealed that they would be working on the soundtrack. "I'm doing a movie, a score for the new Anne Rice movie 'Queen of the Damned'. I'll be singing on it, and Munky and Head will be playing guitar, Sam Rivers from Limp Bizkit playing bass, and that's what we are doing right now".

4 February, 2000

Somebody stop Warner Bros. before they make this movie. The plan has been to adapt Anne Rice's book The Queen of the Damned into a movie. No problem there. The problem is that it's the third in a series. They already made Interview with the Vampire, so the logical step would be to adapt the second book, The Vampire Lestat. No, they want to skip right to the third book. If sources are correct they actually want to combine the second and third books into one movie. The very thought causes pains to shoot through my head.

Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow Pictures just announced a deal in Village Roadshow will contribute $1 billion to forty movies for Warner Bros. Among those to be funded is the long delayed Queen of the Damned project. I imagine Mrs. Rice would be rolling over in her grave if she was actually dead.