Beckinsale stars in ‘Whiteout’

Movie: "Whiteout"

When: Opening Friday at local theaters

Cast: Kate Beckinsale, Gabriel Macht, Tom Skerritt, Columbus Short, Alex O'Loughlin

Director: Dominic Sena

The story: Three days before U.S. Marshal Carrie Stetko (Beckinsale) is scheduled to leave her lonely post in Antarctica, a dead body turns up on the ice -- and she's forced to conduct a murder investigation as the continent's six-month winter closes in.

The buzz: Beckinsale has more than proved her butt-kicking mettle in "Underworld" and its two sequels, but this adaptation of a four-part 1998 comic book saga (published as a graphic novel in 2001) has been in the works since 2002; Reese Witherspoon was at one time attached to star. Speaking of role-playing, two Canadian provinces -- Quebec and Manitoba -- stand in for Antarctica. Temperatures during filming in Winnipeg, Manitoba's capital, reportedly reached 40 degrees below zero.