Through the first three films of the Underworld franchise, the central conflict has been pretty well established: it's all about vampires vs. lycans. The two mythical creatures have spent about six hours worth of feature film facing off against each other, biting necks, flashing swords and tearing others apart with sharp teeth and claws. Now the series is back with a fourth installment, Underworld Awakening, and there's a new force of trouble in town: humans.

Check out the first theatrical trailer for Underworld Awakening below and in HD over on Yahoo!



While Len Wiseman still isn't back - directing duties have fallen to Swedish filmmakers Mans Marlind and Bjorn Stein (Shelter) this time around - the new movie marks the return of Kate Beckinsale as the tight-leather wearing bloodsucker known as Selene. In the new movie, humans have discovered the existence of vampires and werewolves and have decided to take it upon themselves to eradicate both species. What they don't expect, however, is that Selene has woken up from her coma-like state and after learning that she has a 14-year-old daughter, she knows she has to fight for her own existence.

Underworld Awakening hits theaters both in 3D and 2D on January 20, 2012. To learn more about the new movie, be sure to head over to our Blend Film Database.