Townsend and Matthew Newton replaced Tom Cruise and Antonio Banderas in the roles of Lestat and Armand, respectively.

The sound of a nu metal band arouses the vampire Lestat de Lioncourt from a lengthy slumber, and he proceeds to take over as their lead singer.

Jesse Reeves, a researcher for the paranormal studies group Talamasca, is intrigued by his lyrics upon hearing one of his songs play on TV and tells the other members her theory that he really is a vampire.

Jesse awakens in the house where she lived as a child, in awe at the sight of her aunt, Maharet, who later reveals herself as a member of the Ancient Vampires.

When David nervously asks her about life in her current status, Jesse offers to vampirize him, but he declines due to his age.

Warner Bros. Pictures had acquired the film rights to several of Anne Rice's novels—the first three The Vampire Chronicles and The Mayfair Witches trilogy[2]—after a 1988 takeover of Lorimar Productions.

An eventual adaptation of Interview with the Vampire (directed by Neil Jordan and produced by David Geffen) was released in 1994, although not without controversy, particularly over fan reaction to the casting of Tom Cruise as Lestat, an objection initially shared by Anne Rice, which she recanted after seeing the finished film.

[3] After the commercial and critical success of Interview, Neil Jordan began initial development of the novel's sequel, The Vampire Lestat, although this went nowhere.

[4] As the rights to the novels would revert to Anne Rice at the end of 2000,[5] initial story meetings to adapt one or both of the remaining The Vampire Chronicles began in 1998.

The first actor cast was R&B singer Aaliyah (who had made her film and acting debut in Romeo Must Die) as Akasha, the eponymous Queen of the Damned.

[8] Irish actor Stuart Townsend assumed the role in 2000, and the final cast included Vincent Perez as Marius, Paul McGann as David Talbot, Lena Olin as Maharet, and Marguerite Moreau as Jesse Reeves.

With a large cast of international and Australian actors, Queen of the Damned began principal photography on October 2, 2000 and ended on February 27, 2001, in a former biscuit factory, converted into a studio in the Melbourne suburb of St. Albans.

For the scenes of Lestat's concert in Death Valley, over 3000 goths were recruited from Melbourne nightclubs and on the internet, then driven on a fleet of buses to a quarry in Werribee to act as extras.

[10] Instead, the vocals were re-recorded by other musicians for the soundtrack's official release: Wayne Static of Static-X ("Not Meant for Me"), David Draiman of Disturbed ("Forsaken"), Chester Bennington of Linkin Park ("System"), Marilyn Manson ("Redeemer"), and Jay Gordon of Orgy ("Slept So Long").

When Jesse arrives in Los Angeles, a scalper (Jonathan Davis) attempts to sell her tickets to Lestat's show.

[12] The original studio recording of "Careless (Akasha's Lament)" was written and produced by Davis and Gibbs, during the Queen of the Damned sessions.

"[19] Despite negative reviews, Queen of the Damned nonetheless topped the box office on its opening weekend, against fairly weak competition.

[1][23] In December 2002, ten months after the film released, Allan Menzies, a man from West Lothian, Scotland, who claimed to have seen it more than a hundred times, killed his friend, Thomas McKendrick, and drank his blood.

Upon his arrest, he claimed in court during his trial that Aaliyah's character Queen Akasha told him to do it, saying that it would make him immortal as a vampire.