The Queen of the Damned, a film based on the third book in Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles, opens today.

Aaliyah's final film. Aaliyah, who died in a plane crash on Aug. 21, 2001, would have been 23 in January.

Aaliyah completed filming the movie, but never saw the final product, said producer Jorge Saralegui. After her death, Aaliyah's brother, Rashad Haughton, helped during the sound editing for the film by dubbing his voice as hers because his is similar in tone, according to the Internet Movie Database.

Saralegui said although the film is not in anyway a film about the singer's life, it is a reflection of her talent.

"Aaliyah probably had the toughest part in our film, in that she was then a 21-year-old with one movie under her belt, asked to play a 4000-year-old Egyptian queen who was transformed into the most powerful vampire of all," Saralegui said on the film's Web site.

Aaliyah's first film was Romeo Must Die (2000). She was also cast in sequels to The Matrix.

The Queen of the Damned is an adaptation of Rice's book of the same title.

Rice did not write the screenplay and Warner Brothers, the company that distributed the film, said that Queen is not to be treated as a sequel to Neil Jordan's Interview with the Vampire.

Interview starred Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Kirsten Dunst and Antonio Banderas — none of the cast members returned for Queen.

"The Queen of the Damned is the sequel to Interview with the Vampire, to the degree that the novel The Vampire Lestat (the second book in the Chronicles) was a sequel to Interview, the novel," Saralegui said. "It's probably more accurate to view them as parts of a series."

The Queen of the Damned tells the story of Lestat (Stuart Townsend), a vampire turned rock star, whose music wakes the queen of all vampires, Akasha (Aaliyah).

Cruise was offered to reprise his role of Lestat, but turned it down because of prior commitments, Saralegui said.

Korn's lead singer, Jonathan H. Davis, is the singing voice of Lestat.

The cast comprises mostly newcomers — Aaliyah is probably the best known of the cast.

"Aaliyah's work speaks most eloquently for itself," said Saralegui, "and I can only hope that the rest of the film does her justice."

Saralegui said Aaliyah's death has affected the movie, but he does not think it will deter moviegoers.

"We will address how we feel about her life and her passing at the end of the film," Saralegui said in a press release.