A centuries-long blood feud erupts between two powerful and immortal tribes in Underworld: Rise of the Lycans. The third film in the epic Underworld saga goes back in time to depict the origins of the conflict between the aristocratic Vampires, known as Death Dealers, and the barbaric Lycans, a line of fierce werewolves. With more eye-popping CGI and astounding creature effects than either of its predecessors, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans reveals some of the hit franchise's most compelling secrets
Patrick Tatopoulos (who designed the creatures for all three Underworld films) makes his feature film directing debut from a screenplay by Danny McBride (Underworld and Underworld: Evolution) and Dirk Blackman & Howard McCain (Outlander). The film is based on characters created by Kevin Grevioux and Len Wiseman & Danny McBride and the story is by Len Wiseman & Robert Orr and Danny McBride.  Producers are Tom Rosenberg (Million Dollar Baby), Gary Lucchesi (The Exorcism of Emily Rose), Len Wiseman (Underworld and Underworld: Evolution, Live Free or Die Hard) and Richard Wright (Underworld). Skip Williamson, Henry Winterstern, James McQuaide, Eric Reid and Beth DePatie are executive producers

When Underworld debuted in 2003, its richly imagined telling of a centuries-long war between two immortal races wowed audiences across the globe. Ruthless Vampires and savage werewolves returned in its sequel Underworld: Evolution, and a worldwide audience devoured its elegant visual aesthetic, eerie characters and compelling action.
Now Underworld: Rise of the Lycans takes fans back almost a millennium to the beginning of an epic conflict. Created by longtime friends Len Wiseman and Kevin Grevioux, the film reveals the secrets at the heart of the Underworld saga's eternal battle. Wiseman, who directed the first two films, has taken on the duties of producer for this installment, while Grevioux returns for the third time in the role of Lycan enforcer Raze. "The history has always been a driving force for Underworld," says Wiseman. "In the past, we've had glimpses of how it all started. Now we're finally able to play it out with the Death Dealers and their armor and the horses and masses of werewolves."
Even before the first film was shot, the pair created a complex mythology for their Vampire and werewolf antiheroes. "Kevin and I always intended this to be a trilogy," says Wiseman, now a sought-after director of films including Live Free or Die Hard. "It was decided at the time to start with the middle story in the timeline, and it is pretty cool now to be doing the prequel that we talked about so long ago."
"A big part of the whole Underworld series is that the events that have taken place over the last eight centuries determine what's happening in the present," says producer Richard Wright. "There are whole sequences in the first film that are devoted to back story. And in the second film, the whole visit to the Tannis character's lair is eight minutes of back story."
Grevioux wrote the original screenplay with Danny McBride. "Len wanted to do a werewolf movie and asked me if I had any ideas," he says. "When we started hashing out characters and the overall structure, we thought: 'What if we did a Romeo and Juliet story, with werewolves on one side and Vampires on the other and make it a cool, surrealistic modern-day love story?' We also decided to change the way werewolves and Vampires have traditionally been looked at and go more for a scientific basis for their existence, rather than the traditional mysticism."
Underworld: Rise of the Lycans traces the origin of the age-old rivalry between the Lycans and the Vampires to its ancient beginnings in a forbidden relationship. Lucian (Michael Sheen) is the first Lycan, a creature able to transform from werewolf to human and back again at will. Sonja (Rhona Mitra) is a Death Dealer and the daughter of Viktor (Bill Nighy), a powerful Vampire Elder. "Their relationship actually leads directly to the Lycans' revolt against the Vampires," explains Grevioux. "Everything revolves around the fact that Sonja and Lucian are in love with each other. Even though Sonja is Viktor's daughter, there is an uncontrollable bond that grows between them. That already makes it a different kind of story from the first two stories."
For the first time in the franchise's history, Wiseman has turned over the director's reins to someone else. Patrick Tatopoulos, creator of the first film's fantastical and frightening creatures, as well as the production designer of the second, was selected to succeed him. Although he says he was happy to pass the torch to someone who has been integral to creating the franchise, Wiseman admits that it was strange at first to see someone else in the director's chair. "I am seeing it happen from a different seat, but because Patrick and I have a relationship and we've built this thing together, it is a very easy atmosphere with us."
Tatopoulos sees a certain logic in the fact that he makes his directing debut on Underworld: Rise of the Lycans. It is the first of the films to be told primarily from Lucian's perspective. "I created the werewolf on the first and second films," says the director. "So I think for the story to be told by the werewolf was a great thing for me. In the past, we've seen werewolves, but their presence is never overwhelming. In this case, we have an all-out war with hordes of them. This movie brings a new edge to the story, which helped me to create a different texture for the movie."
Bill Nighy, who plays the Vampire Elder Viktor, credits the filmmakers' faith in the franchise for making Underworld: Rise of the Lycans more than just another vampire action movie. "Len Wiseman, Danny McBride and Richard Wright are more than just enthusiasts," he says. "They're believers. They're not winking at the audience. You can cynically build a vampire movie, but I don't think you'll have the same kind of success that a believer would.
"They love the vampire myth and they know their vampire law," he adds. "I love it when it gets Vampire technical. I love to see a Vampire sipping blood in a sophisticated manner. The moral equations are treated with as much respect as they would be in any kind of story."

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

PATRICK TATOPOULOS (Director / Creature Designer) makes his feature directing debut with Underworld 3: Rise of the Lycans.
Previously, Tatopoulos established himself as a distinguished production designer and creator of creature effects. His signature style is recognizable in such successful feature films as I Am Legend, Live Free or Die Hard, Underworld, Underworld: Evolution, Silent Hill, I, Robot, Resident Evil: Extinction, Pitch Black, Independence Day, Dark City, Stargate and Godzilla.
His other credits include 10,000 B.C., Van Helsing, The Chronicles of Riddick, Aliens vs. Predator, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Aquaman, Gallow Walker, The Dead Girl, The Messengers and The Cave.
Tatopoulos also designed the werewolves for director Michael Dougherty's Trick R Treat and special makeup effects for Joel Schumacher's upcoming horror film, Creek. He worked extensively on the horror thriller The Ruins, based on the novel by Scott Smith, and he also designed man-eating plants for The Evil Entities, directed by Carter Smith.
In 2008, Tatopoulos teamed with Samuel Hadida's production team and director Michael Bassett on the action-adventure-fantasy Solomon Kane, based on the comic of the same name. He also collaborated with director Christophe Gans on the action fantasy film Onimusha, based on the video game of the same name.
Tatopoulos has designed several acclaimed music videos, including three for the popular rock band Linkin Park. In the commercial arena, he has collaborated on a series of Mike's Hard Lemonade commercials and designed several Intel Pentium 4 commercials for David Kellogg, featuring the Blue Man Group. Another commercial of note designed by Tatopoulos was a Reebok "clones" spot for Sam Bayer.
In 2000, The Hellenic Times of New York honored Tatopoulos for his achievement in the film industry at its ninth annual gala event. This led to the establishment of the Patrick Tatopoulos Creative Arts Award Scholarship in 2001, which he has personally presented to deserving students.
Tatopoulos was born in Paris, France, where he lived until the age of 17. He began his studies at the Art Decoratif De Paris; the Art Applique's De Paris and the famous Beaux Art De Paris. Pursuing a career in the fine arts, he moved to Rome, where he spent three years before relocating to Athens. In Greece, Patrick worked as a freelance illustrator for several magazines, restaurants and bars, including Liberis Publications, which handles several fashion and sports magazines. Eventually his passion and interest in motion pictures drew him to the United States, where he began his film career in 1989.

DANNY McBRIDE (Screenplay by / Story By / Based on Characters By)
As the son of a Naval Criminal Investigator, Danny McBride spent his formative years in Guam, Panama, and the Philippines. The majority of his childhood was spent reading, dreaming, exploring the jungle, scuba diving and watching movies. In his teens he caught the music bug and played in a myriad of Southern California bands: Sabotage, American Steel, Copper Head and Dirty Blonde. But movies still held their allure. After moving to Hollywood, he met Scott McElroy, a talented stuntman, who introduced him to the world of film action. Together they formed The Scuba Dudes Action Team and soon began to coordinate a string of low budget features. After doing numerous stunt breakdowns and budgets, McBride decided to try his hand at script writing. He soon optioned several screenplays, wrote an episode of "The Outer Limits" and then sold a spec screenplay called Underworld, which spawned a successful franchise. He is currently developing dramatic series for HBO and Fox Television Studios. 

DIRK BLACKMAN & HOWARD McCAIN (Screenplay By)
Dirk Blackman is a native son of New Jersey. He was educated at Columbia University and the American Film Institute, and has since become a bona fide Angelino. Dirk served his time as an assistant at the William Morris Agency, dodging flying coffee cups with the other trainees, before co-producing an indie feature, Friends and Enemies, with wife Christine Purse.  As a solo writer, he has optioned multiple screenplays, and with co-writer Howard McCain, has worked with Jackie Chan, John Woo, Len Wiseman and even drank a Snapple out of Gene Simmons's refrigerator. Dirk and Howard co-wrote the sci-fi/monster/Viking action film Outlander for the Weinstein Company, which is due out in January 2009. Dirk also rendered Executive Producer chores on that production, which Howard directed. In addition to the upcoming Underworld 3, they have also set up their screenplay Amazon at Lion's Gate Films with Scarlett Johansson attached to star.  The pair was recently hired to write the script for the Conan reboot. A lifelong comic book and Buck Rogers memorabilia collector, Dirk is relieved to find that being a geek is no longer socially crippling. (Though he still won't talk much about his vintage Wacky Packs collection.).  He's the father of lovely twin daughters, Kate and Rachel, and can't believe they're almost thirteen.
Following in the footsteps of his childhood filmmaking heroes James Cameron, The Wachowski Brothers and Ridley Scott, Howard McCain is making his big-budget directing debut with the science-fiction/action adventure Outlander.  Staring Jim Caviezel, John Hurt, and Ron Pearlman the film is being distributed by the Weinstein Company and scheduled for release in early 2009.
A graduate of one of the world's top cinema programs at New York University Howard's short films TRUMAN and LOS POLLOS won best short film at the Sundance Film Festival and at the Student Emmy Awards. Howard has directed television movies for Showtime, HBO, and the Disney Channel.
As a writer, he and his partner Dirk Blackman, have worked for legendary action star Jackie Chan, Director John Woo, and recently sold the action/adventure pitch "Amazon." Actress Scarlett Johannsen is attached to star. The writing team has also recently been hired by Lion's Gate to write the script for the new Conan reboot.

LEN WISEMAN (Story By / Based on Characters By / Producer) initially gained experience in the film industry through his work in the art department on the blockbuster hits Godzilla, Stargate, Men in Black and Independence Day. With his visual flair and eye for design, he was soon behind the lens directing commercials for PlayStation, Time Warner, Oracle, Intel and Activision, which quickly lead to a career in music videos. A host of award nominations followed, including Best Art Direction at the 2002 MTV Awards for Quarashi's "Stick 'Em Up" and Best Director at the 2002 MVPA Awards for the Rufus Wainwright video "Across the Universe." In addition, Wiseman has directed groundbreaking music videos for Megadeth, En Vogue, Static X, Paul Oakenfold and Brooke Allison.
With his distinctive style and growing reputation, Wiseman came to the attention of Skip Williamson, president of Lakeshore Records. Seeing Wiseman at work on the set of the Rufus Wainwright video, Williamson made the push for Lakeshore to take a look at his and Danny McBride's script for Underworld, which led to its sequel Underworld: Evolution.
Wiseman most recently directed the latest installment of 20^th Century Fox's Die Hard franchise, Live Free or Die Hard.

ROBERT ORR (Story By) is an accomplished writer who also worked on the Underworld: Evolution script.  Orr's previous writing credits include the films Rapid, Disorder, Tears of the Sun, and the HBO mini-series "Original Gangsters." 
From 1993 to 1995, Orr traveled through southern Bosnia and Croatia during the Yugoslavian War, working first, as a photographer's assistant and then later as an aid worker helping to rebuild homes damaged from fighting.  While in Bosnia, Orr met several mercenaries fighting for the Croat side of the conflict, and based "Savior" on a true story: a French-American ex-Foreign Legion sniper, who claimed that the only bullet he ever took hit him when he went off-mission and saved a baby during battle.  The bullet hole was in his right side.  He called it his "Jesus wound." 
Orr also spent the summer of 1999 working for the U.N. at the DaDaab refugee camp on the Kenyan/Somali border. 

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