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. It is 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 replaced Tom Cruise in the role of Lestat, while Matthew Newton replaced Antonio Banderas as Armand.

The film finds the vampireLestat de Lioncourt (Townsend) awakening in the modern world and becoming a famous singer in a nu metal band, while the ancient progenitor of all vampires, Akasha (Aaliyah), also awakens and seeks him out. It is dedicated to Aaliyah, who died in a plane crash on August 25, 2001, after completing her scenes in the production.

Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures and released in the United States on February 22, 2002, and in Australia on April 4, Queen of the Damned was panned by critics and was a commercial disappointment, grossing $45.4 million against a $35 million production budget, despite having opened at #1 at the box office on opening weekend. The film series would be rebooted 20 years later with Interview with the Vampire (2022), a television series based on The Vampire Chronicles.