"Priest," with Paul Bettany, to Cast a New Light on Vampire Hunting

Set in the backdrop of a world ravaged by war between man and vampires, Paul Bettany plays a priest in an old western-type town. He turns against the church he is sworn to obey in order to save his niece from marauding vampires who captured her, and kills a lot of vampires in the process. There is going to be some great gory makeup in this movie.

He gets help from a young wasteland sheriff, who is also part vampire, adding to his conflicted emotions, in order to save his lost relative. Cam Gigandet, who played James in the "Twilight" series, has been confirmed as the young sheriff. Christopher Plummer, Karl Urban and Maggie Q are also joining the cast.

Paul Bettany has had a myriad of successful roles, but none of them in the lead. He was great in "A Beautiful Mind," a natural naturalist in "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World," and rather amusing in the late Heath Ledger movie, "A Knight's Tale." But he's always had big name actors to back him up; hopefully this time around he will be able to show his prowess in the spotlight.