Underworld: Rise of the Lycans
All actors and roles (10)
All team (52)
Short description
Underworld: Rise of the Lycans takes place long before the events of the earlier films in the series, tracing the beginning of the war between vampires and werewolves. The vampires, led by the cruel Viktor, keep the Lycans as slaves. One of them, Lucian, rises as a leader and organizes a revolt, helped by Sonja, Viktor's daughter, who loves him in secret. Their rebellion sets the two immortal races against each other and leads to the lasting feud at the heart of the saga.
The film is the third in the Underworld series and the first not directed by Len Wiseman, who stays on as a producer. It marks the directing debut of Patrick Tatopoulos, previously known for creature and production design work. The screenplay is credited to Howard McCain, Dirk Blackman and Danny McBride. Michael Sheen and Bill Nighy return as Lucian and Viktor, with Rhona Mitra joining as Sonja, alongside Shane Brolly, Steven Mackintosh and Kevin Grevioux. Twenty-three cast members and fifty-three crew members are credited.
On a budget of 35 million dollars, the film earned about 91 million dollars worldwide, a solid result for its scale. Audience response has been moderate but consistent: on IMDb it holds 6.5 out of 10 from roughly 175,000 votes, while on TMDB it also sits at 6.5 from just over 4,000 votes. A critics' rating of 4.5 out of 10 from 78 reviews places professional assessment clearly below the audience scores, which points to a gap between reviewers and the film's fans within the series.
What's left behind the scenes
- In some cases, the lycans in this film lose only the upper half of their heads. This is because the special effects artists reused makeup that had been applied to William, played by Brian Steele, in Len Wiseman's horror film "Underworld: Evolution" (2005).
- Rona Mitra auditioned for the role of Selene in Len Wiseman’s horror film “Underworld” (2003), but the role went to Kate Beckinsale. When casting for this film began, and Mitra was considered, concerns were raised about the advisability of this decision due to her physical resemblance to Beckinsale. It was then mentioned that Victor (played by Bill Nighy) made Selene a vampire precisely because of her resemblance to Sonia as portrayed by Mitra, so a disadvantage turned into an advantage.
- During the filming of this movie, Michael Sheen (who played Lucian) was approached by Ron Howard with a request to record several lines for the role of Frost in the biographical drama "Frost/Nixon" (Ron Howard, 2008). Sheen, covered in fake blood, went to his trailer and recorded the required lines. Sheen asked a member of the crew to photograph him while recording, and then sent the photo to Howard. Howard printed the photo and framed it.
- The creators of the original "Underworld" film (Len Wiseman, 2003) had only two lycan costumes at their disposal. Three more costumes were made for "Underworld: Evolution" (2005). This film used the five available costumes, made several more for background characters, and reused werewolf costumes from Neil Marshall's horror film "Dog Soldiers" (2001), bringing the total to 14.
Similar movies
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
