Priest is a 2011 American supernatural action film starring Paul Bettany as the title character. The film, directed by Scott Stewart, is based on the Korean comic of the same name. In an alternate world, humanity and vampires have warred 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. When the Priest's niece (Lily Collins) is kidnapped by vampires, the Priest breaks his vows to hunt them down. He is accompanied by the niece's boyfriend (Cam Gigandet), who is a wasteland sheriff, and a former Warrior Priestess (Maggie Q).
The film first entered development in 2005, when Screen Gems bought the spec script by Cory Goodman. In 2006 Andrew Douglas was attached to direct and Gerard Butler was attached to star. They were eventually replaced by Stewart and Bettany in 2009 and filming started in Los Angeles, California, later in the year. The film changed release dates numerous times throughout 2010 and 2011. It was especially pushed back from 2010 to 2011 to convert the film from 2D to 3D. It was released in the United States and Canada on May 13, 2011.
In the future, the war between humans and vampires has devastated the world. The Church, the future incarnation of the Roman Catholic Church, created an elite spiritual warrior organization, dubbed "Priests", who were capable of slaying vampires. The majority of the vampires were killed while the remainder were placed in reservations. The Church created isolated, heavily guarded cities. No longer needing the Priests' services, and fearing their own weapon the Church disbanded them. Outside the cities humans live outside the totalitarian control of the Church.
One day an unnamed Priest, is approached by Hicks, the sheriff of a nearby town. Hicks tells him that his brother Owen was mortally wounded, sister-in-law (and ex girlfriend, Shannon) were killed by vampires and Priest's niece Lucy was kidnapped. Hicks asks for Priest's assistance in tracking down Lucy. Priest goes against the wishes of Monsignor Orelas, the Church's leader, to do so. Monsignor Orelas then sends a group of four Priests led by Priestess to capture him and bring him back, dead or alive.
After saying goodbye to his dying brother, Priest and Hicks arrive at a human but vampire friendly reservation, where they discover that the vampires have taken shelter in Mira Sola. Mira Sola is a vampire hive where Priest lost several of his comrade Priests in a botched mission. There, they are joined by Priestess, who decides to help him because she is in love with him. The group discover that the vampires are using trains to travel, slowly amassing a new army and intending to attack the Priest's city and destroying the Church. They also discover that the inhabitants of Mira Sola had tunneled to the city of Jericho, where the other three Priests had been dispatched by Priestess.
Once in Jericho, the other three Priests are soon confronted by Black Hat, who was one of the Priests who was thought to have been killed in the botched mission at Mira Sola. Black Hat asks the three Priests to become one with the vampire family, but crucifies them when they refuse leaving their bodies to hang on crosses. Black Hat and his army of vampires then proceed to slaughter the entire town. After Priest, Priestess, and Hicks find the corpses of the three Priests, they discover Black Hat's trail and follow him, eventually catching up to his train along with the other vampires.
