Official synopsis and new image for Byzantium

Byzantium , the upcoming vampire saga from director Neil Jordan, has released a new image online as well as the first glimpse of an official synopsis.

The new snap shows stars Gemma Arterton and Saoirse Ronan huddling together in front of what looks like a seafront attraction, looking less than thrilled with their situation.

The pair are vampires you see, and having fled the scene of a violent and bloody crime, they’re now looking for refuge at a run-down resort somewhere on the British coastline.

“Clara (Arterton), ever-practical, sells her body,” says the official blurb. “She soon meets shy and lonely Noel, who provides a roof over their heads in his seedy guesthouse, Byzantium. Clara, always looking towards the future, turns it into a ‘pop-up’ brothel.”

“Meanwhile Eleanor, the eternal schoolgirl, meets Frank, a kindred spirit who unwittingly prompts her to tell the truth about her life. She tells him that Clara is her mother; yet Clara is only a few years older. She says that she was born in 1804; yet she is just sixteen. She confesses that she must drink human blood to stay alive – and so must her mother. In the small, quiet town, people start to die.”

As weary as we are starting to feel with the whole vampire genre, this one does at least sound a little different from Twilight et al. We’ll find out for sure when the film opens in the UK later this year…

George Wales

George was once GamesRadar's resident movie news person, based out of London. He understands that all men must die, but he'd rather not think about it. But now he's working at Stylist Magazine.