Fans of the Underworld saga will have to wait a few extra months before the fifth installment, Underworld: Blood Wars, battles its way into theaters. Rest assured that little else has changed; Kate Beckinsale still stars as the rebellious vampire(+) Selene with Theo James reprising his Underworld: Awakenings role of David, a fellow hybrid with similar powers to Selene.

As Box Office Mojo reports, Underworld: Blood Wars has been pushed from its previous October 14, 2016 date to a release date of January 6, 2017. That's an curious move considering that Doug Liman's crime-thriller Mena, starring Tom Cruise and Domhnall Gleeson, opens that weekend, along with Franck Khalfoun's Amityville: The Awakening, starring Bella Thorne and Gotham's Cameron Monaghan. It'll be interesting to see how 2017's first box office weekend shakes out.


Image via Screen Gems[/caption]

As for Underworld: Blood Wars, Anna Foerster (Outlander) makes her feature directorial debut, bringing over 20 years worth of camera and visual effects work to bear. The official plot has yet to be revealed, but judging by the title and the film's place in the succession, it will likely continue the story centering on an all-out war between the humans, vampires, and Lycans.

Charles Dance returns as the vampire elder Thomas, who also happens to be the father of Selene’s ally, David. Newcomers include Tobias Menzies (Outlander) as Maurius “a formidable new Lycan leader,” and Lara Pulver (Da Vinci's Demons) as Semira “a fiercely ambitious vampire,” along with James Faulkner (Da Vinci's Demons), Peter Andersson (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), Bradley James (Merlin), Daisy Head (The Syndicate) as Alexia, and newcomer Clementine Nicholson as Lena.

For more on all things Underworld, be sure to check out some of our most recent coverage below:

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Image via Sony