Kate Beckinsale squeezes back into her leather catsuit for the latest movie in the Underworld franchise, which looks on course to topple the box-office competition over the weekend. The actress, 38, reprises her role as vampire Selena for the 3D movie 'Underworld: Awakening', written by her husband Len Wiseman.
'Awakening' follows Selena as she takes the fight to the human forces, after they discover the existence of Vampire and Lycan clans. The previous Underworld movies have all been relatively success, with the first film taking $93 million worldwide in 2003, followed by the sequel 'Evolution', which took $111 million. A third outing in 2009, the 'Rise of the Lycans', took around $91 million. 'Awakening' is expected to lead the way at this weekend's underwhelming box office, with George Lucas' Red Tails its only realistic competition. According to the Los Angeles Times, Beckinsale and Underworld are on track for a $20-25 million opening, while Red Tails - about the Tuskegee Airmen in World War Ii - should take around $15 million. Lucas, who financed the project himself, claims the movie's all-black cast put off movie executives, but that could see it gain momentum with African American audiences this weekend. Speaking about slipping back into her Underworld catsuit, Kate Beckinsale joked with the Press Association, "I was in New Orleans shooting Contraband where's there's the best food in the whole world, so that was annoying.But it's good, it's a costume I really like, so I don't mind too much".
Elsewhere at this weekend's box office, the Ralph Fiennes-directed Shakespeare adaptation 'Coriolanus', hits the screens. The movie is perhaps the best reviewed of this weekend's picks and qualifies for Oscar nominations because of its one-week run in December. 'We Need to Talk About Kevin', starring Tilda Swinton, also opens in Los Angeles after hitting New York last week.