Underworld 2:MovieHole recently got a scoop from an insider about the casting of the main baddie in the upcoming Underworld sequel starring Kate Beckinsale and Scott Speedman...

Lord of the stage, Sir Derek Jacobi, has signed on to play a nasty thug (is there any other type?) in the upcoming “Underworld” sequel. Gold star slapped on Director Len Wiseman's production diary for making that wise move.

Jacobi, whose rumoured to be playing the character of Marcus in the follow-up, just completed a role in the British comedy "Nanny McPhee" opposite Emma Thompson and Colin Firth.

The esteemed actors other numerous credits include "Hamlet", "Gosford Park", "Gladiator" and "Molokai: The Story of Father Damien".

He's on a plane bound for Vancouver where he'll join Kate Beckinsale and Scott Speedman on set. The young co-stars have just wrapped training - read : stunt man shows them how to do it, they try, fail, offer the birdie - in California as prep.

According to our insider, the sequel's budget has been raised slightly from the first film ($22 million) so we can probably expect a couple more 'names' to be announced in the next few weeks.

Moviehole interviewed Director Len Wiseman a while back, for the first film's DVD release, who dropped a few hints about what to expect in the vampire vs.wolf follow-up. "This time we can expect more history about the vampires and the werewolves, which we weren’t able to do in the first one", Wiseman said on the phone from LA.

"There’s going to be a bit of actual battle in the medieval times between the werewolves and vampires, with like army-clad vampires on horses, kinda like “Braveheart”. It’ll play out a bit like “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” where the first ten to fifteen minutes of the film will be a prequel. We’re going to really dive into the dark ages, and then centre some more on the modern day. We will have a lot of the same cast, but also new cast too. Some new people will be involved… Marcus of course will be in the sequel".