Selene is back for at least one more chapter of the Underworld franchise.
Despite rumors that it may never actually happen – largely coming from star Kate Beckinsale at one point claiming she didn’t want to do any more of them – Underworld: Blood Wars is coming, and we now have a trailer.
In it, we’re promised a lot more of the same thing that happened in the last four movies. Vampires fight werewolves – called “Lycans” in the franchise – and very little else. The screen gets a blue tint, a few gadgets get used, and nothing else really matters, does it? I mean, at this point, you pretty much know what you’re getting into.
After the fourth film, Awakening, ended on a cliffhanger, fans have been hoping for a fifth installment to answer the questions it left dangling. It appears that it will resolve them in the same way lots of sequels do: by voiceover-explaining them away and then ignoring them for the rest of the film. Maybe that won’t be the case, but that’s the vibe I get from the trailer and after looking at cast lists.
Blood Wars also gives off a “this is the end” sort of feeling, although there have been reports that there will either be at least one more film or possibly a television series. It’s replaced its cast to the point where you only need to get rid of one more character in order to be a completely new “thing,” and the trailer certainly hints that this will be a possibility (or a way to extend that character’s longevity in the franchise, given that its actor isn’t a vampire and actually does age).
Personally, I’ve been a fan of the franchise since the get-go – apart from the abhorrent second chapter – so I’m excited to see what happens in Blood Wars, even if it hasn’t ever been the highest quality series out there.
Directed by Anna Foerster and starring Kate Beckinsale, Theo James, and Charles Dance, Underworld: Blood Wars hits theaters January 6, 2017, just a couple of weeks before Screen Gems‘ other big January release, Resident Evil: The Final Chapter.
