For a franchise that was never particularly exciting, entertaining, or even all that enjoyable, Underworld showed impressive legs during its lengthy stint as one of the most successful B-tier franchises of the 2000s and early 2010s.
Throughout its five-film existence, the eternal war between vampires and werewolves peaked with its very first installment when it came to critical acclaim, but even at that you wouldn’t hear any other noteworthy IP celebrating the fact it never managed to fly any higher than 31 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
Of course, there was clearly a huge volume of supporters out there happy to devour the latest installment any time a fresh adventure arrived, with a cumulative box office haul of $539 million and an audience approval rating on the aggregation site that never dipped below 62 percent cementing its cult status.
It’s been seven years since Blood Wars and 20 since the opening salvo, which has put original director Len Wiseman in a reflective mood. In a retrospective interview with Entertainment Weekly looking back at Underworld, he even teased that the property could be getting dusted off and slapped with a fresh coat of paint.
“There is a fashion that is in the works. I can’t talk about it, but there is a future to Underworld for sure.”
The filmmaker was hinting towards the TV series announced a long time ago that never came close to making it in front of cameras, so there could be good news for the army of Underworld enthusiasts out there who think five features and an animated offshoot is nowhere near enough to satiate them.