The second third sequel in the Underworld series, Underworld: Whatever, opened to the usual pans over Kate Beckinsale again presiding over the war between vampires and werewolves in a shiny black catsuit. It also, of course, opened to the usual influx of cash money, too, cruising into first place with $25.4 million. The real story of the weekend, however, may be the surprisingly robust performance of Red Tails, producer George Lucas’ long-gestating tribute to the Tuskegee Airmen, which didn’t get made for years over concerns about its box office potential. Add to that the mostly sour reviews, and the film seemed headed for the rocks—Lucas’ recent announcement that he would retire from big-budget filmmaking and make smaller, more experimental films like Francis Ford Coppola’s recent efforts made it sound like he was anticipating failure. But Red Tails did just fine over the weekend, exceeding most expectations with $19.1 million in receipts and good word-of-mouth going forward. Public reception was far less kind to Steven Soderbergh's action movie Haywire, which opened all the way back in fifth with $9 million. Though reviews were mostly good, audiences and critics diverged severely: Haywire received a “D+” CinemaScore, compared to “A-“ for Underworld: Armed And Fabulous, proving again that sneering elitist contempt for Joe Q. Public is entirely warranted.