The last few weeks have seen big summer movie debuts, with Fast Five pre-emptively cracking open the season and Thor following up with a respectable opening for a an arguably second-tier superhero.  With very little competition from other beefy superheroic types, Thor held on to the top spot for a second week, earning an estimated $34.5 million.  The big surprise this weekend was Bridesmaids; the raunchy wedding-themed comedy from Kristen Wiig exceeded all expectations in second place, with a projected $24.4 million opening gross.

Actress Maggie Q first gained a reputation for playing kick-ass characters in popular films like Rush Hour 2, Mission: Impossible III, and Live Free or Die Hard. She’s since moved her ass-kicking act to the small screen with her hit TV show Nikita, but now the actress will be kicking ass on the big screen once again when her new film Priest, hits theaters on May 13^th.

The film, which was directed by Scott Stewart (Legion), takes place in an alternate world where humans and vampires have waged war against each other for centuries. After the last Vampire War, the veteran Warrior Priest, played by Paul Bettany, lives in obscurity with other humans inside one of the Church's walled cities. After vampires kidnap the priest's niece (Lilly Collins), he must break his vows to hunt them down. The Priest is joined by a former Warrior Priestess played by Q, who helps him on his quest for redemption.

Scott Stewart may have begun his career working in visual effects on such films as Sin City, Superman Returns, and Live Free or Die Hard, but it was his directorial debut with last year’s supernatural thriller Legion, that put him on the map as a successful Hollywood director. Now Stewart returns, and once again reunites with actor Paul Bettany, in his latest supernatural film entitled Priest, which is based on the popular Korean comic of the same name and opens in theaters on May 13th.

The movie focuses on an alternate world where humans and vampires have waged war against each other for centuries. After the last Vampire War, the veteran Warrior Priest (Bettany) lives in obscurity with other humans inside one of the Church's walled cities. After vampires kidnap the priest's niece (Lilly Collins), he must break his vows to hunt them down. The niece's boyfriend (Cam Gigandet), who is a wasteland sheriff, and a former Warrior Priestess (Maggie Q) ultimately join him on his quest for redemption.

Based on the latest trailer for Priest, Scott Stewart's ostensible adaptation of a Korean comic by Hyung Min-woo, it seems like Stewart put a heaping of genre elements into a blender and turned it on without capping the thing, spewing forth a nasty spray of mulched post apocalyptic deserts, vampires, wire-fu, a Blade Runner-style overcrowded metropolis, 3D, speed change action, slow-mo, and warrior monks.  The film has an impressive cast, though, with Paul Bettany, Christopher Plummer, Maggie Q, and Karl Urban.  There's another trailer online now, ready to remind you of other, probably better movies.  Give it a looksie:

Sony has finally released the trailer for Scott Stewart and Paul Bettany's Priest, their follow-up to Legion. Check it out! Please leave your thoughts and comments below...

Synopsis: Priest is set in a world ravaged by centuries of war between man and vampires. Paul Bettany is Priest, a legendary warrior priest during the last Vampire War, who now lives in obscurity among the other human inhabitants in walled-in dystopian cities controlled by the Church. But when his 18-year-old niece is abducted by a murderous pack of vampires in the desolate wastelands outside, Priest breaks his sacred vows and ventures out to find her and seek vengeance upon those responsible, especially their brutal leader (Karl Urban). Priest is joined on his crusade by his niece’s boyfriend, Hicks (Cam Gigandet), a local outpost sheriff, and Priestess (Maggie Q), a member of his former legion of vampire-killers who has otherworldly fighting skills.

Scott Stewart's first film, Legion, was critically reviled and met with indifference commercially. The former visual effects artist hopes to capitalize on his second chance with Priest, which similarly stars Paul Bettany in a religion-themed horror tale. Slashfilm got their hands on a few stills from the picture, which is set to come out next summer.

Here's the synopsis:

Priest is set in a world ravaged by centuries of war between man and vampires. Paul Bettany is Priest, a legendary warrior priest during the last Vampire War, who now lives in obscurity among the other human inhabitants in walled-in dystopian cities controlled by the Church. But when his 18-year-old niece is abducted by a murderous pack of vampires in the desolate wastelands outside, Priest breaks his sacred vows and ventures out to find her and seek vengeance upon those responsible, especially their brutal leader (Karl Urban). Priest is joined on his crusade by his niece’s boyfriend, Hicks (Cam Gigandet), a local outpost sheriff, and Priestess (Maggie Q), a member of his former legion of vampire-killers who has otherworldly fighting skills.