Queen of the Damned

Queen of the Damned is a 2002 horror film directed by Michael Rymer from a screenplay by Scott Abbott and Michael Petroni, and based on the 1988 novel The Queen of the Damned by Anne Rice, the third novel of the book series The Vampire Chronicles, although the film contains many plot elements from the novel's 1985 predecessor, The Vampire Lestat. A stand-alone sequel to Interview with the Vampire (1994), the film stars Stuart Townsend, Aaliyah (in her final film role), Marguerite Moreau, Vincent Pérez, and Lena Olin. Townsend and Matthew Newton replaced Tom Cruise and Antonio Banderas in the roles of Lestat and Armand, respectively. The film is dedicated to Aaliyah, who died in a plane crash on August 25, 2001, after completing her scenes in the production. Released in the United States on February 22, 2002, and in Australia on April 4, by Warner Bros. Pictures, it received mostly negative reviews from critics and was a box-office bomb, grossing just over $45 million against a $35 million production budget. Plot The sound of a hard rock band arouses the vampire Lestat de Lioncourt from a lengthy slumber, and he proceeds to take over as their lead singer. Achieving international success with the ensemble, which he names The Vampire Lestat, and having revealed the existence of vampires, he taunts his own kind during an interview to advertise his first and only live concert. Jesse Reeves, a researcher for the paranormal studies group Talamasca, is intrigued by his lyrics upon hearing one of his songs play on TV and tells the other members her theory that he really is a vampire. Her mentor, David Talbot, explains to her they already know of his identity and donates Lestat's journal that he recovered so that Jesse can read it, but warns her against pursuing Lestat. In the journal, Lestat recalls that in the winter of 1788, he was brought to a Mediterranean island and vampirized by Marius de Romanus, formerly a talented painter, and his violin playing awoke Akasha, the first vampire. Increasingly intrigued, Jesse tracks Lestat down to a London vampire club called The Admiral's Arms, where he saves her from three vampires and confronts her about Marius. Visiting Lestat in Los Angeles, Marius warns him that the other vampires will not tolerate his flamboyant public profile; he reveals that Lestat's music has awakened Akasha and unsuccessfully implores him to cancel his concert. Meanwhile, Akasha arrives at the coven, looking for Lestat.