Apr 19, 2002 By Lou Gaul Calkins Media Film Critic 4 min read

Big budgets. April 19

May 3

May 16

“Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones”: Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen of “Life As a House”) has grown up, is learning the ways of the Force from Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor of “Moulin Rouge”) and finds himself falling in love with Queen Amidala (Natalie Portman of “Leon, The Professional”). Although the story line has been a closely guarded secret, writer-director George Lucas has hinted the follow-up will have a darker edge, much like “The Empire Strikes Back,” which was the second installment in the previous trilogy. Samuel L. Jackson (“Shaft”) and Yoda (voice by Frank Oz) returns as Jedi Knights.

May 24

May 31

“The Sum of All Fears”: Ben Affleck (“Pearl Harbor”) fills the shoes of Harrison Ford as he takes on the role of CIA analyst Jack Ryan, created by Tom Clancy in a successful book series. This time, Ryan must help to prevent a nuclear war between the United States and Russia after the sudden death of a Soviet leader. Morgan Freeman (“High Crimes”) and James Cromwell (“Babe”) co-star. Phil Alden Robinson (“Field of Dreams”) directed. (As trivia buffs know, Alec Baldwin originated the role of Ryan in “The Hunt For Red October” and then Ford took it over for “Patriot Games” and “Clear and Present Danger.” All three films enjoyed box-office success.)

June 7

“Bad Company”: When a young CIA agent dies, his smart-mouthed twin brother (Chris Rock of “Nurse Betty”) is drafted by a veteran spy (Anthony Hopkins of “Hannibal”) to finish a dangerous assignment that involves nuclear weapons, was started by his Harvard-educated sibling and must be completed in nine days. The action comedy co-stars Peter Stormare (“Fargo”). Joel Schumacher (“A Time to Kill”) directed.

“Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood”: After a neurotic young woman (Sandra Bullock of “Miss Congeniality”) refuses to invite her outrageous mother to her wedding, the daughter begins to investigate her parent’s difficult life and understands the hardships that influenced the older woman’s personality. Ellen Burstyn (“Requiem for a Dream”), Ashley Judd (“High Crimes”), James Garner (“Space Cowboys”) and Maggie Smith (“Gosford Park”) co-star. Screenwriter Callie Khouri, best known for penning “Thelma and Louise,” made her directing debut.

June 14

“The Bourne Identity”: A young man (Matt Damon of “All the Pretty Horses”) is found floating at sea by the crew of an Italian fishing boat and doesn’t remember anything when he awakens from a coma. The man of mystery soon discovers that he had numerous enemies in his past when assassins start hunting him through Europe. The spy thriller, based on the novel by Robert Ludlum, co-stars Franka Potente (“Run Lola Run”), Chris Cooper (“American Beauty”), Julia Stiles (“Save the Last Dance”) and Clive Owen (“Croupier”). Doug Liman (“Go”) directed.

“Scooby-Doo”: This live-action version of the cartoon about a canine – created via computer-generated imagery – stars Freddie Prinze Jr. (“She’s All That”), Sarah Michelle Gellar (TV’s “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”), Matthew Lillard (“Thirteen Ghosts”) and British comic Rowan Atkinson (“Bean”). Raja Gosnell (“Big Momma’s House”) directed.

June 21

“Mr. Deeds”: Adam Sandler (“Big Daddy”) stars as a small-town pizza-shop owner who inherits a huge corporation from his uncle. He then travels to New York to run it, attempts to use the profits to help others and then outwits the wheeler-dealers trying to take control of the company for their personal gain. It’s a remake of Frank Capra’s 1936 favorite “Mr. Deeds Goes to Town” with Gary Cooper. Winona Ryder (“Lost Souls”) and John Turturro (“The Big Lebowski”) co-star. Steven Brill (“Little Nicky”) directed.

July 3

July 12

July 19

July 26

Aug. 2

“Signs”: Set in Bucks County, this highly anticipated supernatural thriller stars Mel Gibson as a farmer who discovers huge designs of circles and lines carved into his family’s crops and learns that the formations have a mysterious meaning. Joaquin Phoenix (“Gladiator”) and Rory Culkin (“You Can Count on Me”) co-star. M. Night Shyamalan (“The Sixth Sense”) directed.

Aug. 7

“Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams”: Antonio Banderas and Carla Gugino return as crime-fighting parents who again involve their children (Alexa Vega and Daryl Sabara) in the espionage business when they travel to a remote island and encounter dangerous man-made creatures. Steve Buscemi (“Ghost World”) and Bill Paxton (“Frailty”) co-star. Robert Rodriguez again wrote and directed.

Aug. 9

“Blood Work”: Clint Eastwood may have retired from playing tough cop “Dirty Harry” Callahan, but that doesn’t mean he’s over the hill. In this edgy thriller, he plays a former FBI agent who retires after a heart-transplant operation and then risks his life to pursue a serial killer who had previously eluded him. Jeff Daniels (“Terms of Endearment”) co-stars. Brian Helgeland (“Payback”) directed.