Paul Bettany has been an Archangel in Legion and may now become a Priest

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Paul Bettany is in negotiations to star in Priest a horror Western that Michael De Luca and Stars Road Entertainment's Josh Donen are producing for Screen Gems. Mitchell Peck also will produce.

The move would reunite Bettany with director Scott Stewart, for whom he just finished starring in "Legion," an upcoming Screen Gems supernatural thriller.

An adaptation of a TokyoPop comic book, "Priest" is set in a world ravaged by centuries of war between man and vampire and follows a warrior priest (Bettany) who turns against the church to track down a murderous band of vampires who have kidnapped his niece. Cory Goodman ("The Brood") wrote the screenplay.

"I knew the moment I saw Stewart's first cut of 'Legion' that Bettany was Priest and so I mentioned it to him immediately," Screen Gems president Clint Culpepper said.

Legion, which is set to open next January, is a thriller that stars Bettany as the archangel Michael, who is all that stands between mankind and an apocalypse after God has lost faith in humanity. But the Almighty apparently hasn't lost all hope -- a child is on the way who is the second coming of Christ, and a group of strangers who recognize the fact must band together to save it. It is director Scott Stewart's first feature film, from a script he co-wrote with Peter Schink. It also stars Dennis Quaid, Kate Walsh and Tyrese Gibson.

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