Scottish actor goes from “Phantom” to vampires

By Tatiana Siegel and Borys Kit

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – Scottish-born actor
Gerard Butler, who haunted an opera house in 2004 and battled a
monster named Grendel last year, is in negotiations to star in
a new film as a warrior priest who hunts down vampires.

Filmmaker Andrew Douglas, who cut his teeth on last year’s
remake of “The Amityville Horror, has signed on to direct the
Screen Gems project titled “Priest,” a post-apocalyptic horror
western based on a comic book by Min-Woo Hyung.

Sony Pictures will distribute the film, which is scheduled
to start production October 1 in Mexico.

The story centers on a warrior priest (Butler) who disobeys
church law by teaming with a young sheriff and a priestess to
track down a band of renegade vampires who have kidnapped the
priest’s niece.

Newcomer Steven Strait, who recently wrapped Screen Gems’
horror thriller “The Covenant” and is filming Roland Emmerich’s
“10,000 B.C.,” is in talks to co-star as the sheriff.

Development of the film has raised eyebrows as Sony now has
two similar high-profile projects under its corporate umbrella.

Columbia Pictures recently gave the OK for production to
begin on the comic book-based vampire movie “30 Days of Night,”
starring Josh Hartnett, with shooting set to begin in early
August in New Zealand.

Butler, who played the title role in “The Phantom of the
Opera” and starred as the medieval warrior in 2005′s “Beowulf &
Grendel,” next stars in Warner Bros. Pictures’ “300″ and
recently wrapped “Butterfly on a Wheel.”

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter