Beyond Hollywood now has the second poster for Dominic Sena's (Swordfish) thriller based on Greg Rucka's graphic novel, Whiteout. Rucka's limited series was originally released in 1998, and the original story had two female agents investigating a murder in McMurdo Station in Antarctica. Rights were originally purchased in 1999, and here we are eight years later and after a few quick casting switches, Kate Beckinsale was signed to play U.S. Marshal Carrie Stetko. Casting was finalized back in March when Gabriel Macht (The Spirit) singed on as UN operative, Alex O'Loughlin, and Tom Skerrit in an unnamed role.

A teaser poster had been released for ComicCon back in July, and, frankly, I thought it was pretty blah. Especially when you consider the quality of the art in the graphic novels; Beckinsale pouting just doesn't quite do it for me. So is the new poster any better you might ask? Well, it's better, but not by much. Maybe I'm asking too much from my movie posters, but I just can't get all that jazzed about something that looks like it could double as a Ray Bans ad.

It hasn't been an easy road to get Whiteout to production. Starting back in 1999 when Colombia Pictures first picked up the film rights and to commission a script from Jon and Erich Hoeber, oddly enough, the first order of business was to do away with one of the female leads in the story and to switch to a man (so much for girl power I guess). Whiteout is set for release in October 2008. See the full poster after the jump.

The true test of a great action actress is not how she can float around in head-to-toe PVC, with a serious face, double-fisted weapons and a flowing trenchcoat. It's pulling it off in a parka, with a body so under wraps that all you've got to emote with is your voice and the tip of your nose. At least, I wish that would be the test for Kate Beckinsale. As Ryan previously reported, she was in talks for the freezing role in Whiteout, and now she has officially signed on to star as Carrie Stetko in the Antarctica-based action drama. Unfortunately, I'm sure that the filmmakers will cheat, making an elaborate indoor maze for her to hunt through, rather than having their sexy actress look like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.

Based on Greg Rucka's comic, the story follows Stetko, who is stationed in Anarctica and is brought into a murder investigation. There are only three days until winter hits, when the continent will become dark and she will be trapped with the killer. So, obviously, she has to haul arse to find out the person, before one of the two gets to play Alive. The film will start shooting in Montreal (Huh?) in March, and Wikipedia sources say that they'll also film in Manitoba, which makes much more sense. The flick is headed by Dominic Sena, and sure, he's the man who brought us Gone in Sixty Seconds and Swordfish, but he's also the man behind Rhythm Nation, so maybe the parka-laden people can break into an ultra-serious dance routine at some point in the movie.

Dominic Sena, the nice man who brought us the bus being hoisted through the air in Swordfish and Angelina Jolie's bad haircut in Gone in Sixty Seconds, is set to direct a film based on a graphic novel series by Greg Rucka. Whiteout is about a U.S. Marshal who has to solve a murder in Antarctica -- do we have dominion there yet? -- in a certain amount of time, or be stuck up there, alone in the dark, for six months with the killer.

Production Weekly reports that Kate Beckinsale is currently negotiating to take on the role of Marshal Carrie Stetko. The film is pegged to begin shooting in mid-March. Is it just me, or does this project sound remarkably similar to 30 Days of Night, the Sam Raimi-produced horror film arriving in theaters this fall? That one is also based on a graphic novel and also about a law enforcement official who must battle evil while living in a place that is noticeably deprived of sunlight.