Underworld movie timeline.

Does anybody know if Rise of the Lycans takes place before or after the events at the start of Evolution?

Waaaaaaaay before Evolution and the original Underworld.

1. Rise of the Lycans
2. Underworld
3. Evolution

That's the chronological order, although the order they were released in is different.

Rise of the Lycans is when Lucian is born and becomes the 1st lycan able to transform at will. It's also when he impregnated Sonja(Viktor's daughter) and was about to have their hybrid spawn.

The beginning of Evolution takes place before Rise of the Lycans. Remember, Sonja already had the necklace, which was the key to William's prison, in Rise of the Lycans, which means he already had been captured.

KingD has it right.

The starting scene in Evolution however, predates Rise of the Lycans. Maybe thats how you got confused.