A few people have written and asked me what I think about the upcoming version of “The Queen of the Damned,” especially in light of the criticism aimed at the film already by a number of online critics. Before I being I would like to firmly state that I AM NOT AN EXPERT! I am a humble university student who just happens to enjoy vampire movies, especially "Interview with the Vampire". The following is merely my humble opinion, and I hope no one is offended, or takes me too seriously. Having said that, this is what I have to say on the matter:

On “Queen of the Damned”: Why did Warner Bros. decided not to make “The Vampire Lestat”? Simple question. Read the book. The book has no coherent storyline, it is merely a series of flashbacks as told by Lestat and Armand, among others. It would NEVER make a decent movie. “Queen of the Damned” will. It has a strong storyline and a lot of action, and combined with the character elements from “Lestat,” will make a very interesting movie, and (hopefully) coherent follow-on of “Interview with the Vampire.” I don’t see how Warner Bros. could have done it any other way.

On casting Lestat: I was extremely disappointed when I heard that Wes Bentley had dropped out of the role. I thought he was PERFECT for it! He was so quietly malevolent in "American Beauty," and I was immediately happy with the casting. But he's out, unfortunately. Can't do anything about it. I'm not so impressed at the new suggestions. Josh Hartnett could be alright, I liked "The Faculty," even if it was stupid. He doesn't bring the same respect to the film that I thought Wes Bently would, but you never know. I at least think he has the right look.
Don't even get me started on Simon Baker Denny, he's AWFUL! I'm an Aussie, so I've spent the last few years watching him in bad soapies, and GOD FORBID he ever gets into this movie. If so, I completely wash my hands of it, I DON'T WANT TO KNOW! Hopefully sanity will prevail at the Warner Bros. casting office.

On other casting: Not sure yet. I recently saw "Romeo Must Die," and Aaliyah wasn't alright. She certainly had one of my friends (a guy) drooling. I'm not sure how she'll be as an ancient Egyptian vampire queen, but we'll see. I'm not sure I believe the rumours about Liv Tyler, but I think she's gorgeous, so I'd love it to be true! Jessie, perhaps?

On KORN: I’m totally biased in this respect. I WORSHIP KORN, so when you combine one of my favourite movies with one of my favourite bands, I’M HAPPY! And KORN seem to be a good choice for the part. Their music is very dark, very gravelly, and painfully emotional, which is just the sort of music Lestat and his band were creating. Basically, I love it!

On Anne Rice: Here’s where I’m going to annoy some people. A lot of commentators seem worried about the fact that Anne Rice is being left out of the production of this movie, as she was with IWTV. Rice has been very vocal about her opposition to Warner Bros. and had hoped that the ownership of Queen of the Damned would expire. While I totally respect Anne Rice, and am in awe of her writing ability, I think she knows very little about the making of movies. She's too attached to her characters and her books to realise that, in their original format, they won't make good movies. She’s an author, not a producer. She was left out of the making of IWTV, and she vocally and publicly announced her opposition to the movie, especially the casting of Tom Cruise as Lestat. When she actually saw the movie, she loved it, and had to retract all her previous comments. I think the same will happen here. I believe that it is best that she is removed from the production of “Queen of the Damned,” so that they can get on with making a movie, without her emotional attachments to her characters. Warner Bros. managed to do a good job with IWTV with out her, I don’t see why they shouldn’t do the same with “Queen of the Damned.” (I still love you, Anne!!)

On “Teeny-boppering”: A number of people have expressed concern that this movie is going to be aimed for the teenage audience, some comparing it to Buffy. Personally, I love Buffy, but never mind that. The storyline for the movie does sound a bit cheesy, but so did the books. A vampire as a rock-star? PLEASE! But it worked. Most of the worry seems to have sprouted from the rumours of the inclusion of Freddy Prinze Jr., the veteran of such (awful) movies as “Wing Commander,” “She’s All That”, and “I Know What You Did Last Summer.” Freddy Prince Jr. as Lestat? PLEASE! Josh Hartnett doesn't seem to be the same serious actor as Wes Bentley was, but I think he could still pull it off. Remember, when Brad Pitt did Louis, he was still only considered a pretty boy, not a serious actor. You never know.

On the inclusion of Jesse: Personally, I love this. I know the romantic storyline was not included in the books, but IWTV got into enough trouble for being homoerotic. Warner Bros. probably felt the need to put some nice heterosexual love interests into the sequel. Discriminatory? Perhaps, but that’s studios for you. Some of us LIKE romance in our movies, homoerotic or not. Personally, seeing Brad Pitt and Antonio Banderas almost lip to lip was HOT. But that’s me. I’m just glad Lestat might actually GET SOME! What I want to know is, who’s going to play Jesse?

Conclusion: From the few details that I’ve heard about the production of “Queen of the Damned,” I’m really excited about it! I’ve been waiting for them to make a sequel for a really long time, always half believing they never would. I’m glad to have been wrong! I love the inclusion of Korn, I’m glad they skipped “The Vampire Lestat,” and I (was)THRILLED at the casting of Wes Bentley. All in all, it sounds like a blast. It could still all go wrong, but it’ll be a long time before we find out, and plenty of time to get excited about it. Don’t believe the hype, this sounds like a VERY cool movie.

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