The Underworld movies aren’t cinematic masterpieces but they get the job done. Though never a critical success, if you were a mid-2000s moviegoer who wanted to watch a pretty lady in tight pants shoot monsters, they were your best bet (well, that or a Resident Evil flick).
After its 2003 debut, the franchise proved to have long legs, racking up five entries (and an animated movie) over the next 14 years, closing out with Underworld: Blood Wars in 2017. Unfortunately, that final entry sputtered at the box office and since then the franchise has been on ice.
Creator Len Wiseman hinted in 2017 that Underworld 6 was in development and that the story of Kate Beckinsale’s Selene would continue. Those plans stalled and now, in a new interview to promote upcoming movie Jolt (premiering on Amazon Prime on July 23rd), Beckinsale said she doubts there’ll be another entry.
While confirming that she still has those leather pants in storage, she said Selene isn’t coming back – and rued that they never got a chance to make their pitched Underworld/Blade crossover (Marvel Studios declined). But none of this should come as much of a surprise as Beckinsale has previously ruled out playing Selene again.
Her reasons are solid: she married Wiseman after the first Underworld and the pair filed for divorce just before Blood Wars hit theaters, so it’s understandable she doesn’t want to work with her ex. On top of that, in a 2018 interview she said:
“I never anticipated doing one of those heavy-weight, very physical franchise things. It was scary to see myself on movie posters on the side of every single bus.”
Also, she’s 46 and a mother, so maybe she just doesn’t have the time to squeeze back into the outfit and throw down with the undead. But while Beckinsale might be out, there have been hints of an Underworld TV series in the pipeline. Right now that seems unlikely, but who knows?