Ben Kingsley to play 'Kagan, King of the Vampires' in 'BloodRayne' Video Game
Oscar-winner Sir Ben Kingsley to play 'Kagan, King of the Vampires' in film adaptation of 'BloodRayne' Video Game
Thesp joins T3 star Kristanna Loken
Boll KG and Brightlight Pictures to begin shooting late August
(Vancouver, BC) – Ben Kingsley, best known for his Academy Award winning role in Ghandi, and most recently for his Oscar nominated performance in House of Sand and Fog, has signed on to play the villain in the film adaptation of one of the most popular action-horror video games in years, BloodRayne. Kingsley joins Terminator 3 star Kristanna Loken, who will play the film's heroine, BloodRayne.
The film is set in 18th century Romania, where the film will actually begin principal photography later this month. The beautiful Rayne has a human mother and a vampire father, giving her superhuman strength, yet at the same time, allowing a softer, more vulnerable side to her personality. Still, she is driven by vengeance to overthrow her vampire father, who turns out to be the powerful and evil Kagan, King of the Vampires, who will be played by Kingsley. Kagan wants nothing to do with his daughter and is intent on bringing her to doom. On her journey, Rayne is befriended by two vampire hunters. Together, the three must combat the great Kagan before he manipulates the earth into darkness, with vampires ruling forever.
BloodRayne is written by Guinevere Turner (American Psycho) and will be directed by Uwe Boll. Boll has recently raised $47 million through German film fund Boll KG 4, and this financing will be used for BloodRayne as well as other forthcoming videogame screen adaptations. The filmmaker most recently directed House of the Dead, based on the Sega videogame, and Alone in the Dark, starring Christian Slater, Tara Reid and Stephen Dorff, based on the Atari game. The first film was acquired by Artisan Entertainment; the latter has no domestic distributor as of yet.
The producers of BloodRayne are Shawn Williamson and Dan Clarke. Williamson is a principal at the Vancouver-based Brightlight Pictures which recently co-produced with Gold Circle Films White Noise, starring Michael Keaton, which Universal Pictures will release in 2005, and line produced Edison for Millennium Films and Emmett/Furla Films, starring Kevin Spacey, Morgan Freeman, LL Cool J and Justin Timberlake.
Of Kingsley's casting, Williamson said, "It is an incredible honor to have an actor of Sir Kingsley's caliber involved in our film. His talent and strength as an actor will help us create an outstanding cinematic experience." Ben Kingsley and television credits include Schindler's List, Sexy Beast and The Diary of Anne Frank.
About BloodRayne: Majesco's popular action-horror video game series features the sexy, supernatural BloodRayne, the most deliciously wicked action heroine ever to grace a console game. This October, Rayne is challenged with her most personal battle yet in BloodRayne 2, for the Xbox® video game system from Microsoft, Sony PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, and PC. More information can be found at http://www.bloodrayne2.com.
About Boll KG: With 78 million dollars in production funds raised in the past two years, Boll KG is a fast-growing film production entity based in Frankfurt, Germany under the aegis of Dr. Uwe Boll. With this most recent acquisition, Boll has emerged as a pre-eminent director and producer of films based on video games. Artisan Entertainment released House of the Dead, based on the Sega franchise, in fall 2003; and he has completed a film adaptation of Atari's Alone in the Dark.
About Majesco: Established in 1986 and headquartered in Edison, NJ, with offices in the United Kingdom, Majesco Holdings Inc., operating through its wholly owned subsidiary, Majesco Sales Inc., is a leading developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment products for the Xbox® video game system from Microsoft, Sony PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, and Nintendo GameCube™ and Game Boy® Advance systems, as well as the personal computer. The Company's 2004 lineup includes BloodRayne 2, the sequel to its popular action/horror series, and its Game Boy® Advance Video product line which utilizes the Company's proprietary video compression technology to enable consumers to view commercial-grade video on a standard Nintendo Game Boy Advance system. Advent Rising, the first in a trilogy of action/adventure games, will ship to stores in 2005. More information about the Company can be found online at www.majescogames.com.
About Brightlight Pictures: A feature film and television production company based in Vancouver and Victoria, BC, Brightlight Pictures develops, finances and produces independent feature films and television projects for the domestic and international marketplace. Company principals and producers, Stephen Hegyes and Shawn Williamson, have produced over 50 productions in the last 10 years, including Bruce Sweeney's Last Wedding which opened the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival. Recent Brightlight Pictures credits include The Long Weekend starring Chris Klein and Brendan Fehr and White Noise starring Michael Keaton. Brightlight Pictures also recently Line Produced Edison for Millennium Films and Emmett/Furla Films starring Kevin Spacey, Morgan Freeman, LL Cool J and Justin Timberlake. More information on Brightlight Pictures can be found at www.brightlightpictures.com.
Thesp joins T3 star Kristanna Loken
Boll KG and Brightlight Pictures to begin shooting late August
(Vancouver, BC) – Ben Kingsley, best known for his Academy Award winning role in Ghandi, and most recently for his Oscar nominated performance in House of Sand and Fog, has signed on to play the villain in the film adaptation of one of the most popular action-horror video games in years, BloodRayne. Kingsley joins Terminator 3 star Kristanna Loken, who will play the film's heroine, BloodRayne.
The film is set in 18th century Romania, where the film will actually begin principal photography later this month. The beautiful Rayne has a human mother and a vampire father, giving her superhuman strength, yet at the same time, allowing a softer, more vulnerable side to her personality. Still, she is driven by vengeance to overthrow her vampire father, who turns out to be the powerful and evil Kagan, King of the Vampires, who will be played by Kingsley. Kagan wants nothing to do with his daughter and is intent on bringing her to doom. On her journey, Rayne is befriended by two vampire hunters. Together, the three must combat the great Kagan before he manipulates the earth into darkness, with vampires ruling forever.
BloodRayne is written by Guinevere Turner (American Psycho) and will be directed by Uwe Boll. Boll has recently raised $47 million through German film fund Boll KG 4, and this financing will be used for BloodRayne as well as other forthcoming videogame screen adaptations. The filmmaker most recently directed House of the Dead, based on the Sega videogame, and Alone in the Dark, starring Christian Slater, Tara Reid and Stephen Dorff, based on the Atari game. The first film was acquired by Artisan Entertainment; the latter has no domestic distributor as of yet.
The producers of BloodRayne are Shawn Williamson and Dan Clarke. Williamson is a principal at the Vancouver-based Brightlight Pictures which recently co-produced with Gold Circle Films White Noise, starring Michael Keaton, which Universal Pictures will release in 2005, and line produced Edison for Millennium Films and Emmett/Furla Films, starring Kevin Spacey, Morgan Freeman, LL Cool J and Justin Timberlake.
Of Kingsley's casting, Williamson said, "It is an incredible honor to have an actor of Sir Kingsley's caliber involved in our film. His talent and strength as an actor will help us create an outstanding cinematic experience." Ben Kingsley and television credits include Schindler's List, Sexy Beast and The Diary of Anne Frank.
About BloodRayne: Majesco's popular action-horror video game series features the sexy, supernatural BloodRayne, the most deliciously wicked action heroine ever to grace a console game. This October, Rayne is challenged with her most personal battle yet in BloodRayne 2, for the Xbox® video game system from Microsoft, Sony PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, and PC. More information can be found at http://www.bloodrayne2.com.
About Boll KG: With 78 million dollars in production funds raised in the past two years, Boll KG is a fast-growing film production entity based in Frankfurt, Germany under the aegis of Dr. Uwe Boll. With this most recent acquisition, Boll has emerged as a pre-eminent director and producer of films based on video games. Artisan Entertainment released House of the Dead, based on the Sega franchise, in fall 2003; and he has completed a film adaptation of Atari's Alone in the Dark.
About Majesco: Established in 1986 and headquartered in Edison, NJ, with offices in the United Kingdom, Majesco Holdings Inc., operating through its wholly owned subsidiary, Majesco Sales Inc., is a leading developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment products for the Xbox® video game system from Microsoft, Sony PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, and Nintendo GameCube™ and Game Boy® Advance systems, as well as the personal computer. The Company's 2004 lineup includes BloodRayne 2, the sequel to its popular action/horror series, and its Game Boy® Advance Video product line which utilizes the Company's proprietary video compression technology to enable consumers to view commercial-grade video on a standard Nintendo Game Boy Advance system. Advent Rising, the first in a trilogy of action/adventure games, will ship to stores in 2005. More information about the Company can be found online at www.majescogames.com.
About Brightlight Pictures: A feature film and television production company based in Vancouver and Victoria, BC, Brightlight Pictures develops, finances and produces independent feature films and television projects for the domestic and international marketplace. Company principals and producers, Stephen Hegyes and Shawn Williamson, have produced over 50 productions in the last 10 years, including Bruce Sweeney's Last Wedding which opened the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival. Recent Brightlight Pictures credits include The Long Weekend starring Chris Klein and Brendan Fehr and White Noise starring Michael Keaton. Brightlight Pictures also recently Line Produced Edison for Millennium Films and Emmett/Furla Films starring Kevin Spacey, Morgan Freeman, LL Cool J and Justin Timberlake. More information on Brightlight Pictures can be found at www.brightlightpictures.com.
