It may sound like an odd mix — werewolves and love affairs – but this is a Hollywood movie, after all.

At the giant Comic-Con convention of comic book and sci-fi movie fans that ended Sunday in San Diego, Reuters sat down with artist and production designer Patrick Tatopoulos, who has for years created scary creatures in TV commercials and films including the 2003 horror hit “Underworld” and its sequel “Underworld: Evolution” (2006).

Now, the Frenchman is making his directorial debut with the Jan. 2009 release of “Underworld 3: The Rise of the Lycans,” a prequel to the earlier releases that told of war between vampires and werewolves. Tatopoulos said he had the blessing of Len Wiseman who directed the first two films that have grossed a combined $206 million at global box offices. Wiseman also is credited as a writer and producer on the prequel.

Tatopoulos said Wiseman had always felt there should be a movie exploring the origins of the franchise’s central theme of a centuries-old feud between aristocratic vampires known as Death Dealers and their former werewolf slaves, the Lycans.

The challenge, Tatopoulos said, was putting a new spin on the same old vampires and werewolves. “It’s a challenging thing,” he said. “The story is somewhat already spelled out.”

First he took the film back to the Dark Ages, thus creating “a new setting and a new world.” Next, he decided to tell the story from the perspective of the werewolves, rather than the vampires as it had been in the first two movies.

In the midst of all the horror, he said fans should expect a bolder, more “incredible, romantic love story,” in the vein of a Romeo and Juliet. A young Lycan (Michael Sheen) rallies the werewolves to rise up against a cruel vampire king (Bill Nighy) with the help of his secret vampire lover, Sonja (Rhona Mitra), who helps him in the struggle for Lycan freedom.

(Reporting by Sarah Tippit)