Resident Evil Nearly Crossed Over With An Unexpected Vampire Franchise

In the 2000s, two of the biggest franchises in the action horror subgenre were "Resident Evil" and "Underworld." The former sees Alice (Milla Jovovich) battling those infected by the Umbrella Corporation's T-virus, while the latter follows the vampire Selene (Kate Beckinsale) who gets caught up in the disputes between the bloodsuckers and the Lycans. Since both series feature tough-as-nails female protagonists battling monsters, it's easy to see them sharing a similar fanbase.

Hollywood took note of it too, according to producer David Kern, who worked on several of the "Underworld" films. In 2016, Kern admitted to Bloody Disgusting that he toyed with the idea of combining the franchises into the ultimate crossover movie after a discussion with a friend who had worked on both series. "But then you wonder, all the 'Resident Evil' fans are also all the same 'Underworld' fans, I would think," Kern said. "At that point, are you losing movie and losing content by ... You can get one movie to come out one date, then six months later you get another, and you've got two different movie tickets sold, whereas if you make a combined thing ..."

From a financial perspective, it's easy to see Kern's point. While neither the "Resident Evil" movies nor "Underworld" films established themselves as critical darlings, each franchise proved to be profitable on its own. Essentially, Alice didn't need Selene, and vice versa here.

While the chances of Selene and Alice bonding in all things gun and gore never materialized, "Underworld" actually stood a much better chance of crossing over with another 2014 action horror film: "I, Frankenstein." A riff on the classic Mary Shelley story, this film sees Frankenstein's monster, now named Adam (Aaron Eckhart), battle demons and protect humanity.

"I, Frankenstein" is based on a graphic novel created by Kevin Grevioux, who is also one of the co-creators of the "Underworld" franchise. Grevioux also worked on the "I, Frankenstein" film, providing his own draft of the story before writer-director Stuart Beattie boarded the project and wrote his own script. In 2014, Grevioux revealed to I Am Rogue that since production company Lakeshore Entertainment handled both "Underworld" and "I, Frankenstein," he harbored hopes of a crossover. "In fact, one of the early drafts I did ... You know the end credit scenes that Marvel Studios does with their movies?" Grevioux said. "I actually had one with Adam and Selene."

Since "I, Frankenstein" underperformed at the box office, with only $76.8 million from a $65 million budget, a sequel and/or crossover never moved forward. Even so, let's be honest: The team-up we all wanted was the one between "Underworld" and "Blade." Even Kate Beckinsale had her heart set on a crossover with the Marvel character.