Bill Nighy

Interview: Director Richard Curtis on Rock, Politics, Sex & ‘Pirate Radio’

BrianTT — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:41:55 -0700

CHICAGO – The legendary Richard Curtis returns this week with “Pirate Radio,” the story of Radio Rock and the first disc jockeys to ever play rock and roll in the United Kingdom. Co-starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy, Nick Frost, Kenneth Branagh, Tom Sturridge, and many more, “Pirate Radio” is another ensemble comedy from the man who made the beloved “Love Actually” and wrote “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” “Notting Hill,” and created “Black Adder”. Curtis recently sat down with HollywoodChicago.com (and Matt Fagerholm of Film Monthly and Locke Peterseim of RedBlog) to discuss his new film and its inspirations.

Naturally, if a writer is going to make a film about the power of rock music, he probably has a pretty close kinship to the tunes of the era himself. Curtis vividly remembers tuning into Radio Rock on his transistor, a moment copied for the very first shot of “Pirate Radio”.

Philip Seymour Hoffman (left), Rhys Ifans (center) and director Richard Curtis (right) star in Richard Curtis rock and roll comedy PIRATE RADIO, a Focus Features release.
Photo credit: Alex Bailey

Curtis says, “In England, it was hilarious in the sixties. I went to a boarding school, and it really was like 1949. All the hair was unbelievably short, you couldn’t run in the corridors, you couldn’t talk after lights out, you sung endless hymns with the wet pilgrim in them. That’s why it was so fantastic to listen to rock n roll undisciplined.”

Philip Seymour Hoffman stars in Richard Curtis rock and roll comedy PIRATE RADIO, a Focus Features release.
Photo credit: Alex Bailey

Even tuning into Radio Rock was an adventure in itself - “You were like a safe-cracker, because the stations were hard to get. They had very small frequencies, and it was the thing about volume level. If it was too quiet you couldn’t hear it, but if it was too loud, the matron who stalked along the corridors could hear it, so you had to get that perfect level.”

His first favorite song was “Reach Out (I’ll Be There)” by The Four Tops, the first single he bought and a song he remembers watching climb the charts, as made-up as those charts may have been. Curtis says, “I remember Chapel was on, which was compulsory, and a guy called Richard Griffiths and I were hiding in the music rehearsal room. I remember the DJ saying that “Reach Out (I’ll Be There)” had gone from number sixteen to number TWO. I was unbelievably excited, because these days all records enter in number one, but in those days they went from thirty, although the great thing about Pirate Radio is they made up the charts. They really were piratical. They didn’t pay PRS, they made up the charts.”

Beyond The Four Tops, picking the music for the incredible soundtrack to “Pirate Radio” was a crucial part of production - “Well, you know, it’s so interesting now because you write on computers which are also a jukebox. So the moment I started [writing] it, the first thing I did was download about sixty songs that I was tempted by, and that got up to about 300. I always use pop music to cheer me up during very long days of writing and about 15 of the songs were actually written in to the script. January Jones is called Eleanor so that we could play “Eleanor” [by The Turtles] and the guy was always going to say at the beginning, “We’re going to broadcast all day and all of the night” [making The Kinks song a natural fit].”

“And then I did an iPod with thirty songs per DJ to give them all a sense of it, and when we edited the movie, all of those were on a computer. We had a music editor, and he and I would meet at the end of each day and do a new section. I wanted music all the way through the film, apart from the Ken Branagh bits. We ended up being self-selecting. You think you want one song for a scene, and then you play it next to the scene and it doesn’t work. It’s a song that only becomes interesting after thirty seconds, and it’s only a twenty second cue. So you find your way, as if by magic, to the songs.”

Director Richard Curtis (left), January Jones (center) and Chris ODowd (right) on the set of Richard Curtis rock and roll comedy PIRATE RADIO, a Focus Features release.
Photo credit: Alex Bailey

What most interested Curtis about the story of Radio Rock might surprise you. It wasn’t just about the music. It was something that has always interested him - “friendship and group dynamics”.

Curtis explains, “In this movie, [while] the historical passion idea was pirate radio and pop music, the comic idea was eight megalomaniacs in a small house. I sort of thought whatever the American equivalent would be, David Letterman and Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien not only working in the same space, but actually living with each other 365 days a year. So that was the comedy idea, therefore that required eight big characters.”

His recent films (and “Black Adder”) have displayed a political motif in Curtis’ work. He says, “The Girl in the Cafe was clearly a political film. Black Adder is a series about how stupid older people are, so it’s a young man’s show. The political point here, in a way, is just that I always feel that governments are solving problems of the generation before. Young men of 28 join politics, and by the time they’re 45, they still seem to be dealing with old stuff. That’s why the environment issue still isn’t being taken seriously, because it’s a bunch of people who still think that oil is more important. I think it’s political by chance, but it’s a political story I’m quite interested in.”

Youth is clearly a major theme of “Pirate Radio”. “I think it’s a film partly about being 24—for everybody. I think most people end up in a flat with too many people, one of whom has had sex with everybody, one of whom has never had sex, dreadful food, bad hygiene, and listening to music all the time. For me, that was Camden Town, 1979—The Specials, Madness, Blondie, The Pretenders. In a way, it’s a movie about the freedom of your twenties when money doesn’t matter. You do the job you want to do, you don’t have any children. The weird thing is you often end up living with people you don’t like, because it’s a bit random. It’s the one person who can afford it, or it’s the guy who owns the place, or some girl who’s a friend of his mother’s who has to move in. I hated the four people I moved in with, and yet we were happy.”

Will Adamsdale, Tom Wisdom, Bill Nighy, Katherine Parkinson and Ralph Brown star in Richard Curtis rock and roll comedy PIRATE RADIO, a Focus Features release.
Photo credit: Alex Bailey

Philip Seymour Hoffman was the first choice to play The Count. Richard Curtis explains why, “My brief to them was that The Count was meant to be both funny—which I hope everyone is, he tries to say “f—k” first on the radio—but he was meant to be the soul of the film. I loved the idea of having a really good actor deliver that speech about, “These are the best days of our lives.” The first thing I ever wrote in the film, oddly enough, was the speech he delivers as the boat sinks. I was listening to “Don’t Dream it’s Over” by the Crowded House, and he actually says, “I want to say to all you politicians, don’t dream it’s over.” My intention when I first made the film was that at the end of the movie, we were going to have a compilation of all the great rock songs from the moment the boat went down to now. But it was very confusing when we hoped to get the final cut. So I wanted the best actor to play that part, not necessarily a comedian.”

As for returning to “Black Adder,” something that is appears as a rumor every few years, I’m sorry to report that Curtis offers no clarity on the subject, first saying no, but then pointing out - “Oddly enough, I love the fact that The Police got back together again, and Cream got back together again while they’re still alive. And when we were young, we always said that we’ll do another Black Adder when we’re old and hate young people. Because it was young people pretending to be old people and show what idiots they were. But Tony Robinson is in his mid-90s now, so I’m not hopeful.”

“Pirate Radio” will be released in theaters on Friday, November 13th, 2009.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: 50 ‘Pirate Radio’ Chicago Screening Passes With Philip Seymour Hoffman

HollywoodChicago.com — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 18:23:20 -0700

CHICAGO – In our latest comedy edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 50 admit-two passes up for grabs to the advance Chicago screening of “Pirate Radio”! The film was formerly titled “The Boat That Rocked”.

“Pirate Radio” from writer and director Richard Curtis (“Love Actually,” “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” “Notting Hill”) stars Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy, Rhys Ifans, Nick Frost, Kenneth Branagh, Tom Sturridge, Rhys Darby, Talulah Riley and January Jones. The film opens everywhere on Nov. 13, 2009.

To win your free pass to the advance Chicago screening of “Pirate Radio” courtesy of HollywoodChicago.com, all you need to do is answer our question below. That’s it! This screening will be held on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2009 at 7:30 p.m. in downtown Chicago. Directions to enter this Hookup and immediately win can be found beneath the graphic below.

“Pirate Radio” stars Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Image credit: Universal Pictures

Here is the “Pirate Radio” plot description:

Rock and roll will live forever, but can it float? The newest ensemble comedy from filmmaker Richard Curtis (screenwriter of “Four Weddings and a Funeral” and “Notting Hill” and writer and director of “Love Actually”) spins the irreverent yet fact-based tale of a seafaring band of rogue rock-and-roll deejays whose “pirate radio” captivated and inspired 1960s Britain.

Playing the music that rocked a nation and a decade, the group boldly and hilariously defies the government that tries to shut them down.

Broadcasting live 24/7 from an old tanker anchored in the middle of the North Sea (just beyond British jurisdiction), Radio Rock sends out a vibrant and unifying signal to millions of people across the nation who range in age from wide-eyed pre-teens secretly tuning in long past their bedtimes to everyday people in need of a musical pick me up.

The Radio Rock roster – overseen by unflappable station owner (and ship’s captain) Quentin (Bill Nighy) – includes a risk-prone American known only as The Count (Philip Seymour Hoffman); mystic deejay royalty Gavin (Rhys Ifans); slyly amorous Dave (Nick Frost); idiosyncratic New Zealander Angus (Rhys Darby); the rarely seen Bob (Ralph Brown); the aptly named Thick Kevin (Tom Brooke); lovelorn Simon (Chris O’Dowd); ladies’ magnet Mark (Tom Wisdom); shy Harold (Ike Hamilton); reporter News John (Will Adamsdale); and lesbian ship’s cook Felicity (Katherine Parkinson).

One night in 1966, Quentin’s teenaged godson, Carl (Tom Sturridge), comes aboard. While Carl harbors romantic aspirations that he hopes will be fulfilled during one of the biweekly visits by Radio Rock’s prettiest fans, he also hopes to find out more about his long-absent father.

As the ship sails on and rocks out, what Carl and the free-wheeling, free-loving Radio Rock gang don’t know is that back in London landlocked government minister Dormandy (Kenneth Branagh) has embarked on a vehement crusade to permanently silence their signal. To stay afloat and keep their devoted audience plugged in, the crew will have to band together and trust in the power of music like never before.

The “Pirate Radio” trailer can be watched now below.

To secure your free tickets now, make sure you’re logged into your HollywoodChicago.com account. If you don’t yet have one, you can quickly register here. Having an account with a valid e-mail address is required. Then, simply add a new comment in the form below. In your comment, include an answer to this question:

What’s the furthest you’ve gone to do what you believe in?

Like all Hookups here, this HollywoodChicago.com Hookup is simple: Just submit your comment below and we will award 50 people randomly via e-mail for our “Pirate Radio” Hookup. Winners need to arrive early as seats are consumed on a first-come, first-served basis. Good luck!

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief/Publisher
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

‘Astro Boy’ is Here to Save Whatever is Left of the Future

PatrickMcD — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 07:22:00 -0600

CHICAGO – The cartoon universe is replete with superheroes, none more distinct than the title character in the new animated film “Astro Boy.” Based on a Japanese comic book from 1951, Astro Boy has new life in 3-D cartoon form.

Rating: 3.0/5.0

Metro City is a futuristic utopian metropolis created especially to hover over the now abandoned earth (in shades of “Wall•E,” the landscape below is now a dumping ground). The city is an efficiently run model, aided by an army of robot workers, baby sitters and civil servants.

Dr. Tenma (voice of Nicholas Cage) is working on a new energy source derived from a meteorite. This revolutionary blue sphere can create clean energy and power the whole countryside. When the evil government leader, General Stone (Donald Sutherland), gets wind of the new power source, he wants to use it in a new weapon that will solidify him as overseer of Metro City.

Dr. Tenma’s son, a scientific prodigy, gets trapped with the destructive robot and is killed as the experiment goes awry. His distraught father decides to rebuilt him as a robot, and places the blue energy source as his heart. However, the new “Astro Boy” feels like a stranger in his homeland, and exiles himself to the dumping grounds below Metro City.

”Astro Boy” opens everywhere October 23rd. Check local listings for 3-D showings. Featuring the voices of Nicholas Cage, Donald Sutherland, Nathan Lane, Freddie Highmore, Kirsten Bell, Eugene Levy and Bill Nighy, directed by David Bowers. Rated “PG.”

Continue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of “Astro Boy”

We Can Rebuilt Him: Scene from ‘Astro Boy’
Photo credit: Summit Entertainment

Continue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of “Astro Boy”

HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: 40 ‘Astro Boy’ Passes With Nicolas Cage, Charlize Theron

HollywoodChicago.com — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 02:04:22 -0600

CHICAGO – In our latest animated edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 40 admit-two passes up for grabs to the advance screening of the new film “Astro Boy”!

“Astro Boy” features the voices of Kristen Bell, Nicolas Cage, Charlize Theron, Samuel L. Jackson, Bill Nighy, Freddie Highmore, Donald Sutherland, Eugene Levy, Nathan Lane, Moises Arias, Matt Lucas, Madeline Carroll, Sterling Beaumon, Victor Bonavida and Tony Matthews from director David Bowers. The film is distributed by Summit Entertainment, which is the same production company involved with “Twilight,” “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” in 2009 and “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” in 2010.

To win your free pass to the advance screening of “Astro Boy” courtesy of HollywoodChicago.com, all you need to do is answer our question below. That’s it! This screening will be held on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009 at 10 a.m. in Schaumburg, Ill., which is a suburb of Chicago. Directions to enter this Hookup and immediately win can be found beneath the graphic below.

“Astro Boy” features the voices of Kristen Bell, Nicolas Cage, Charlize Theron and Samuel L. Jackson.
Image credit: Summit Entertainment

Here is the “Astro Boy” plot description:

In the futuristic world of Metro City, which is a gleaming metropolis in the sky, the brilliant scientist Dr. Tenma creates Astro Boy to replace the son he has lost. He programmed his creation with the best of human characteristics and values and has endowed him with extraordinary super powers.

Cast out when he can’t meet the grieving father’s expectations, Astro Boy is dealt a cruel double blow: he’s also crushed to learn he is a robot and not even a human being. Astro Boy, who carries within himself the Blue Core (a power source made of positive “blue” energy), is sought out by the troops of the militaristic President Stone.

They are obsessed with obtaining the Core for the “Peacekeeper” robot, which has been invented to be used as a weapon to dominate Earth. Fleeing from the military, Astro Boy crashes to the surface of the Earth. Lost and unsure of his identity, Astro Boy simply seeks to fit in.

Denying his true nature, he tries to pass himself off as a human being with a gang of child vagabonds. He falls naively under the sway of their leader Hamegg in whom he sees a father figure. To Astro Boy’s horror, Hamegg exposes him as a robot and tries to turn him into a robot gladiator.

In “Hamegg’s Robot Games,” Astro Boy is forced to face wave upon wave of robots. Refusing to fight but only disabling his opponent when the safety of spectators is threatened, Astro Boy’s nobility wins the crowd over.

Alerted by the Core’s power surge, the military swoops down and captures Astro Boy as he resigns himself to his fate. As Dr. Tenma removes his energy source, Astro Boy forgives him for what he’s doing. This display of innate goodness finally opens Dr. Tenma’s eyes to the terrible mistake he has made.

Reconciled to the son he had wrongly rejected, he allows Astro Boy to escape. The destructive Peacekeeper, which has been given the incredibly dangerous negative Red Core energy by presidential order, is out of control and causing havoc in Metro City. Astro Boy returns to help the citizens, fight the Peacekeeper and save Metro City from crashing to Earth.

In the climactic battle, the strands of the story come together as Astro Boy accepts his mixed human-robot nature and finds his destiny as mankind’s savior.

The “Astro Boy” trailer can be watched now below.

Who is your favorite superhero? Why?

Like all Hookups here, this HollywoodChicago.com Hookup is simple: Just submit your comment below and we will award 40 people randomly via e-mail for our “Astro Boy” Hookup. Winners needs to arrive early as seats are consumed on a first-come, first-served basis. Good luck!

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief/Publisher
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

Blu-Ray Review: Prequel ‘Underworld: Rise of the Lycans’ With Michael Sheen

BrianTT — Wed, 27 May 2009 16:06:44 -0600

CHICAGO – “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans” is easily one of the weirdest movies of 2009. It’s a werewolf movie that plays like a variation on “Gladiator” or “Spartacus” with the foundation of “Romeo & Juliet”. Solid work by the excellent Michael Sheen nearly redeems the film but an awful screenplay, dull design, and plodding direction sink this bizarre prequel.

Blu-Ray Rating: 1.0/5.0

How many people were really concerned with how the blood feud started between the vampires and the lycans that served as the foundation for the Kate Beckinsale “Underworld” films? Enough to spawn this unusual prequel, detailing the history of this centuries-old rivalry.

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans was released on Blu-Ray on May 12th, 2009.
Photo credit: Sony

Lycans used to be slaves for the Death Dealers, the aristocratic vampires led by the vicious Viktor (Bill Nighy). In the Dark Ages, a young Lycan named Lucien (Michael Sheen) develops a romance with Viktor’s daughter Sonja (Rhona Mitra) and leads his kind in a revolution against their masters.

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans was released on Blu-Ray on May 12th, 2009.
Photo credit: Sony

Sheen brings an unusual amount of star power to the role of Lucien but he’s fighting a losing war against awful dialogue, incomprehensibly staged action sequences, and poor design decisions. He’s also proof that the argument of one actor raising the game of everyone around him doesn’t always hold true. Mitra is simply horrible in a passion-less, uninteresting role and Nighy chews so much scenery with his over-the-top interpretation that you half expect him to literally gnaw on his throne.

Ultimately, “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans” commits a cardinal sin of action movies - it’s as boring as watching bad Shakespeare. Only take a look if you’re a diehard werewolf, vampire, or Michael Sheen junkie. Casual fans of any of the above or even the original “Underworld” movies (which look like “The Matrix” compared to this mess) should stay away.

The Blu-Ray presentation of “Rise of the Lycans” doesn’t help the final judgment of the film. Director Patrick Tatopoulos shot the film in almost all dark colors, using mostly blues and blacks. The HD transfer doesn’t help the murky cinematography or overdone color palette but it should have been more crisply transferred. It’s literally hard to tell what’s going on sometimes, although the blame could fall any number of places besides the video transfer. The audio is similarly uninspiring with an average TrueHD 5.1 track.

Special features on “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans” include a Script to Screen feature, “The Origin of the Feud,” “Re-Creating the Dark Ages,” Music Video for “Deathclub” by William Control, and a filmmaker commentary.

Blu-Ray exclusive special features include a digital copy of the film, “Cinechat,” “Behind the Castle Walls - Picture-in-Picture,” and “Lycanthropes Around the World - Interactive Map”.

The special features are not a particularly bad collection of bonus material but they’re offered in the enhancement of such a dull film that they naturally suffer from being pretty uninteresting themselves.

‘Underworld: Rise of the Lycans’ is released by Sony Pictures Home Video and stars Michael Sheen, Rhona Mitra, and Bill Nighy. It was written by Danny McBride and Dirk Blackman & Howard McCain and directed by Patrick Tatopoulos. The Blu-Ray and DVD will be released on May 12th, 2009. It is rated R.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: 20 Autographed ‘Underworld: Rise of the Lycans’ Posters From Kevin Grevioux

HollywoodChicago.com — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 16:47:01 -0700

CHICAGO – Following our interview with Chicago-born Marvel Comics writer and “Underworld” and “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans” character creator Kevin Grevioux, we now have a special HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film with 20 autographed Kevin Grevioux posters for the new film up for grabs.

To win your free “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans” poster autographed by Kevin Grevioux courtesy of HollywoodChicago.com, all you need to do is be one of the first 20 people to submit a vampire opinion in our confidential, Web-based submission form. That’s it! Directions to enter this HollywoodChicago.com Hookup and immediately win can be found beneath the graphic below.

The poster for “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans”.
Image credit: Lakeshore Entertainment Group

Here is the synopsis for “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans”:

“Underworld: Rise of the Lycans” delves into the origins of the centuries-old blood feud between the aristocratic vampires (known as Death Dealers) and the barbaric Lycans (werewolves).

A young Lycan, 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 persecuted them for hundreds of years.

Lucian is joined by his secret lover – the beautiful vampire Sonja (Rhona Mitra) – in his battle to free the Lycans from their brutal enslavement.

To secure your free poster, you must be logged into your HollywoodChicago.com account. If you don’t yet have one, you can quickly register here. Having an account with a valid e-mail address is required to win this HollywoodChicago.com Hookup.

Next, simply submit your vampire opinion. You must submit your opinion using this confidential, Web-based submission form. Please do not comment in this Hookup. Your entry will be invalid if you do so. Please only submit your vampire opinion using this submission form.

You must include your e-mail address, name and physical mailing address in your submission. Your personal information will be kept strictly confidential and is only for us to mail winning posters. Your personal information will not be sold or shared elsewhere.

Submit your vampire opinion now!

Like all Hookups here, this HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film is simple: The first 20 people to submit a vampire opinion win! The 20 autographed posters will be mailed to the winners at our expense. “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans” opened in theaters nationwide on Jan. 23, 2009.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

Interview: Chicago ‘Underworld: Rise of the Lycans’ Writer Kevin Grevioux on Science-Based Vampires

HollywoodChicago.com — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 19:37:33 -0700

CHICAGO – While Alfred Hitchcock and more recently M. Night Shyamalan have teetered between whether or not to write roles for themselves into their own scripts, there’s no tottering for Chicago-born Marvel Comics writer and “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans” character creator Kevin Grevioux.

For the inside story behind the 2009 “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans” film from the lips of the “Underworld” character creator (the original Kate Beckinsdale film opened in 2003), HollywoodChicago.com sat down with the vastly brawny and distinctly deep-voiced Kevin Grevioux on the film that makes the series a trilogy.

Rhona Mitra stars in “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans”.
Photo credit: Lakeshore Entertainment Group

“When I wrote the original ‘Underworld’ script, I had my role in it and I knew what I had to do,” Grevioux said in a Chicago interview with HollywoodChicago.com editor-in-chief Adam Fendelman on the topic of his Lycan (werewolf) character named Raze. “I had to taper it to make sure it fit well within the film. I had to make it big enough but not too small.”

Grevioux continued: “After I finished my screenplay, the other writers (Len Wiseman and Danny McBride) were making the role bigger. We all were. But I said at one point: ‘Hold up, fellas. We can’t go down this path. If this role is too big, then they’re gonna get LL Cool J or whoever is the flavor-of-the-month black man to play it and I won’t be able to.’”

That’s when Grevioux knew it was time to defend his own character holy grail. He added: “So we tapered it down some so it would be cool for me but not as attractive to a bigger actor.”

This was at a time when Grevioux was new in the industry and hadn’t yet earned today’s prized Hollywood star power. He added: “At the time, none of us had done a film before. We were all new and had no power. I identify myself more as a writer than an actor. Acting is something I fell into because I had the look – whatever that means – or distinctiveness. But writing is really where I flourish. I have a wealth of ideas.”

To understand Grevioux’s “Underworld” writing in contrast to so many other vampire incarnations including the hit 2008 film “Twilight,” its 2009 sequel “New Moon,” “True Blood” on HBO, all the Anne Rice vampire novels and the underrated foreign child vampire film “Let the Right One In,” one must understand the source from which he derived his vampire and werewolf perspective.

Michael Sheen (left) and Kevin Grevioux star in “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans”.
Photo credit: Lakeshore Entertainment Group

As a self-professed conspiracy theorist and sci-fi fanatic with science degrees in microbiology and genetic engineering, Grevioux didn’t write “Underworld” vampires with the typical sense of mysticism. Instead, he created them through science in the way he believes they actually could be.

Continue reading on page two…

Free Chicago Screenings to ‘Underworld: Rise of the Lycans,’ Autographed Posters With Star Kevin Grevioux

HollywoodChicago.com — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 02:35:23 -0700

CHICAGO – “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans” star Kevin Grevioux will be in Chicago on Jan. 19, 2009 to give away a limited amount of autographed posters for the film as well as admit-two passes to the movie. Want to know where and when to show up for this special event? Read on as HollywoodChicago.com dishes to you the scoop.

Rhona Mitra in “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans”.
Image credit: Ken George, Screen Gems

Originally born in Chicago, Kevin Grevioux is a Marvel Comics writer and is one of the originators of the “Underworld” series. Along with starring in “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans,” he joins Michael Sheen, Bill Nighy, Rhona Mitra and Steven Mackintosh in the film.

The “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans” event with Kevin Grevioux will take place from noon to 1 p.m. on Jan. 19, 2009 at Graham Crackers Comics, which is located at 77 E. Madison between Wabash and Michigan in downtown Chicago.

Kevin Grevioux has also been featured in the films “The Mask,” “Batman Forever,” “Charlie’s Angels,” “Planet of the Apes,” “Men in Black II,” “Cradle 2 the Grave” and “Underworld”.

No purchase is necessary to receive autographed posters and free admit-two passes to the film. Inventory is available while supplies last.

Kevin Grevioux
Photo credit: Screen Gems

A limited number of passes are available on a first-come, first-served basis. There is a limit of a single admit-two pass per person. Passes will not be given away until noon on Jan. 19, 2009.

Here’s the synopsis for “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans”:

“Underworld: Rise of the Lycans” delves into the origins of the centuries-old blood feud between the aristocratic vampires (known as Death Dealers) and the barbaric Lycans (werewolves).

A young Lycan, 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 persecuted them for hundreds of years.

Lucian is joined by his secret lover – the beautiful vampire Sonja (Rhona Mitra) – in his battle to free the Lycans from their brutal enslavement.

“Underworld: Rise of the Lycans” opens in theaters nationwide on Jan. 23, 2009.

Note: This is different than our typical HollywoodChicago.com Hookups where we have arranged free passes for you in advance with the studios. We have not done so in this case. We’re merely letting you know about this information because we think it’s crazy snazzy and believe you will, too.

Flip through our five-image “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans” slideshow.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

Slideshow: 5-Image Gallery For ‘Underworld: Rise of the Lycans’ With Rhona Mitra, Bill Nighy

BrianTT — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 07:47:45 -0700

CHICAGO – This 5-image slideshow contains official press images for Screen Gems’ “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans,” which stars Rhona Mitra, Bill Nighy, Michael Sheen, Kevin Grevioux, Steven Mackintosh, Tania Nolan, and Craig Parker from writers Danny McBride and Dirk Blackman & Howard McCain and director Patrick Tatopoulos. The film opens on Jan. 23, 2009.

Official synopsis: “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans delves into the origins of the centuries-old blood feud between the aristocratic vampires, known as Death Dealers, and the barbaric Lycans (werewolves). A young Lycan, 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 persecuted them for hundreds of years. Lucian is joined by his secret lover, the beautiful vampire Sonja (Rhona Mitra), in his battle to free the Lycans from their brutal enslavement.”

You can click “Next” and “Previous” to scan through this slideshow or jump directly to individual photos with the captioned links below. All photos credited to Ken George and courtesy of Screen Gems.

underworld_lycans_1: Rhona Mitra in Screen Gems’ Underworld: Rise of the Lycans.
underworld_lycans_2: Rhona Mitra in Screen Gems’ Underworld: Rise of the Lycans.
underworld_lycans_3: Michael Sheen in Screen Gems’ Underworld: Rise of the Lycans.
underworld_lycans_4: Bill Nighy in Screen Gems’ Underworld: Rise of the Lycans.
underworld_lycans_5: Poster for Screen Gems’ Underworld: Rise of the Lycans.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com