Whiteout, the first film under Joel Silver’s new Dark Castle Entertainment deal, now has its lead actress. Per yesterday’s Daily Variety, Kate Beckinsale will star in the movie, which is based on a 1999 graphic novel about the first murder in Antarctica. Silver’s new funding structure with Dark Castle gives the mega-producer the ability to greenlight and finance certain films on his own authority, and Whiteout is the first project under said deal.

The storyline focuses on Beckinsale’s character, a U.S. Marshal investigating the first ever murder on Antarctica. The character has three short days to solve the case before the continent’s long dark winter begins, at which time she will be isolated for the season with the killer. And he will turn into a werewolf. No, no, just kidding about that last part. (I think.)

Warner Bros. will distribute the film domestically, with a first-quarter 2008 release expected. Shooting will begin this March in Montreal, with Dominic Sena directing, proving that there is life after all after Gone in Sixty Seconds and Swordfish. I guess he'll have to shelve a lot of those orange filters, though...