Karl Urban Dons a Black Hat for Priest

Well before he hit the big time as Eomer in LOTR: The Two Towers and LOTR: Return of the King, Karl Urban caught our eye in a little Kiwi flick called The Irrefutable Truth About Demons. And now it looks like he’ll be returning to his horror roots in Screen Gems’ Priest as he was cast to play the film’s big bad known as Black Hat.

THR describes Priest, directed by Scott (Legion) Stewart, as a post-apocalyptic horror thriller set in a world ravaged by war between man and vampires. Paul Bettany stars as a warrior priest and vampire fighter who teams with a sheriff (Cam Gigandet) and warrior priestess (Maggie Q) to track down a murderous band of vampires who have kidnapped his niece.

Urban portrays the evil leader of the bloodsuckers who was once a priest and hunter but now fancies himself a god of vampires.

There’s still no firm release date for Priest other than sometime in 2010, but now that the players are all falling into place, no doubt that aspect of the production will also.

– Debi Moore