In a pattern as inexorable as life, death, the movement of the moon around the Earth or the ability of ants to get where they’re not wanted, another Underworld film is on the way. Underworld: Next Generation is in pre-production and will star vampiric kick-puncher Kate Beckinsale.
The Hollywood Reporter announced the casting news last month and little has been said since, leaving me to paw at IMDB for details. I didn’t come away with much except a slight hope that addition of some new blood to the franchise’s production crew could renew this increasingly tired werewolf/vampire hybrid’s vigour.
This will be Anna Foerster‘s first credit as feature film director, although she has plenty of experience behind the camera as 2nd unit director and director of photography for films like White House Down, The Day After Tomorrow. Screenwriter Cory Goodman‘s only other credit is an adaptation of Priest, a Korean graphic novel whose Wikipedia page lost me after 30 seconds, but I’m all for weird-ass genre work, especially when it’s shot by a woman who worked on Æon Flux.
Underworld: Next Generation starts shooting in Prague this October. Despite my (bad) jokes about the franchise’s age, I’m quite looking forward to this. I could really get into a less gloomy, more kinetic vision from a director with action experience, based on a script that’s rumoured to focus on a younger batch of werewolves and vampires.