Underworld: Rise of the Lycans trailer

Don’t know how I missed this one. The trailer for Underworld: Rise of the Lycans was released last week. It looks ok, but I’m curious where Patrick Tatopoulos will take the franchise. Tatopoulos is more known for effects and concept work on films like Godzilla, I Robot and The Cave. He was also creature designer for the 2006 sequel Underworld: Evolution, so at least he’s familiar with the territory. Underworld 3 marks his directorial debut, after doing a short in 2000. I’m not crazy about that music either. It sounds like the exact same background music from the Max Payne trailer. What’s up with that? I figured that would have changed that on principle.

Len Wiseman, who helmed the first two Underworld movies, is acting as an executive producer on this one, while he’s busy prepping a number of mega-budget tentpoles, including the Gears of War adaptation (although that film is on hold because of the New Line shuffle) and the sci-fi action thriller Shell Game, which follows a detective who is faced with a moral dilemma as he investigates the dangerous black-market business of immortality.

The prequel story traces the origins of the centuries-old blood feud between the aristocratic vampires known as Death Dealers and their onetime slaves, the Lycans. In the Dark Ages, a young Lycan named 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 enslaved them. Lucian is joined by his secret lover, Sonja (Rhona Mitra), in his battle against the Death Dealer army and his struggle for Lycan freedom.

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, will be in theaters on January 23, 2009.

Check out the trailer for Underworld: Rise of the Lycans below.