Kate Beckinsale’s ‘Underworld’ on top at box office

Kate Beckinsale is back with a vengeance, with her latest movie opening at No. 1 this weekend. “Underworld Awakening’’ made an estimated $25.4 million, distributor Sony Screen Gems reported yesterday. This is the fourth film in the vampire action saga. Beckinsale (inset) starred in the first two movies as the warrior Selene, then bowed out of part three but returned for this latest installment (see review in g section, Page 7). Opening in second place was “Red Tails’’ from executive producer George Lucas, about the Tuskegee Airmen who were the first black fighter pilots to serve in World War II. It made an estimated $19.1 million, according to 20th Century Fox. Overall box office was up 31 percent from the same weekend a year ago, thanks to new releases as well as movies like “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close,’’ which had limited runs for awards consideration at the end of 2011 and are now expanding nationwide. The 9/11 drama from Warner Bros., starring Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock, came in fourth place with $10.5 million. Last week’s No. 1 film, the Universal smuggling thriller “Contraband’’ starring Mark Wahlberg, dropped to the No. 3 spot with $12.2 million. It’s now made $46.1 million in two weeks. Meanwhile, Steven Soderbergh’s international action picture “Haywire’’ from Relativity Media opened in fifth place with $9 million, which was above expectations.