Bond, Rocky to reign in theaters this fall
Daniel Craig will be in Bond-age as 007 in “Casino Royale,” Sean Penn will reign in “All the King’s Men,” Will Smith will pursue “Happyness,” Sylvester Stallone will rumble as “Rocky Balboa,” Beyonce Knowles, Jamie Foxx and Eddie Murphy will make beautiful music in “Dreamgirls,” Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon will team in “The Departed,” Cameron Diaz will enjoy “The Holiday” and Ben Stiller will spend a “Night at the Museum” in theaters during the fall season. Here’s a look at what’s ahead through December (with all dates highly subject to change):
Sept. 8
“The Covenant,” with Renny Harlin (“Die Hard 2”) directing a horror thriller that concerns four young adults who have pledged to keep their deadly powers a secret, a vow that unravels when the body of a student is discovered after a party.
“Half Nelson,” with Ryan Gosling (“The Notebook”) in a film-festival favorite about a middle-school history teacher attempting to enlighten his poor students about the political process and suffering from an addiction to drugs.
“Hollywoodland,” with Ben Affleck (“Good Will Hunting”), Adrian Brody (“The Pianist”) and Diane Lane (“Unfaithful”) in a drama about the mysterious death of actor George Reeves, who played Superman on television and may have been murdered due to an illicit affair.
“House of Sand,” with Fernanda Montenegro (“Redeemer”) in a drama from Brazil about a mother and daughter who are abandoned in a desert wilderness and, with the help of a former slave, learn how to survive.
“Pathfinder,” with Karl Urban (“Doom”) and Russell Means (“The Last of the Mohicans”) in an action tale about a Viking child who was left behind by accident and raised by American Indians. He then joins his adopted family to battle the violent invaders when they return a quarter of a century later to claim him.
Sept. 15
“Artie Lang’s Beer League,” with the sidekick from “The Howard Stern Show” combining his love of playing baseball and drinking booze into a comedy that he wrote and stars in.
“The Black Dahlia,” with Scarlett Johansson (“Scoop”), Josh Hartnett (“Sin City”), Aaron Eckhart (“Thank You For Smoking”) and Hilary Swank (“Million Dollar Baby”) in director Brian De Palma’s noir thriller based on a real-life 1947 murder of a starlet who was romantically involved with two police officers. It’s based on the book by James Ellroy.
“Employee of the Month,” with hot stand-up comic Dane Cook and Jessica Simpson (“The Dukes of Hazzard”) in a comedy about a staffer at a warehouse outlet who becomes obsessed with seducing a beautiful co-worker.
“Gridiron Gang,” with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (“Walking Tall”) in a fact-based teen melodrama about a detention-camp probation officer trying to convince juvenile felons to use their energy and learn to work together by playing on a high-school football team.
“The Guardian,” with Kevin Costner (“Open Range”) and Ashton Kutcher (“Just Married”) in a military tale about a grizzled Coast Guard veteran who’s seeking recruits to become part of an elite squad of rescue-swimmers.
“The Last Kiss,” with Zach Braff (“Garden State”), Jacinda Barrett (“Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason”), Casey Affleck (“Ocean’s Eleven”) and Mary-Louise Parker (HBO’s “Weeds”) in a comedy-drama about a guy coming to terms with life, love, marriage and infidelity just as he’s about to turn 30.
Sept. 22
“All the King’s Men,” with Sean Penn (“Mystic River”), Jude Law (“Alfie”), Kate Winslet (“Titanic”) and James Gandolfini (HBO’s “The Sopranos”) in a political drama based on Robert Penn Warren’s 1946 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about the destructive corruption in Louisiana politics.
“Feast,” with Balthazar Getty (“Lost Highway”) in a horror film about strangers forced to work together to battle flesh-eating creatures. The film, directed by John Gulager, was made possible by the “Project Greenlight” program, which was created by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon to give unknown filmmakers a chance to make a low-budget project.
“For Your Consideration,” with director Christopher Guest (“A Mighty Wind”) and his improv troupe – including Jennifer Coolidge, Eugene Levy, Michael McKean, Larry Miller, Catherine O’Hara, Parker Posey, Harry Shearer and Fred Willard – in a comedy about some actors whose egos grow by leaps and bounds. That occurs after a media buzz starts swirling around the low-budget independent film they’re making and they start to believe they’ll receive Oscar nominations for their work.
“Jackass: Number Two,” with Johnny Knoxville doing more dumb-and-dumber stunts designed to cause pain and generate laughs.
“Jet Li’s Fearless,” with the Hong Kong action superstar in a fact-based historical epic about Huo Yuanjia, a fighter whose martial arts skills made him China’s greatest hero.
“Renaissance,” with Daniel Craig (“Layer Cake”) in a futuristic black-and-white action thriller about a tough detective battling the evildoers inside a genetic-research company.
Sept. 27
“The Last King of Scotland,” with Forest Whitaker (TV’s “The Shield”), James McAvoy (“The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe”) and Kerry Washington (“She Hate Me”) in a tale about a Scottish doctor who becomes the personal physician of Uganda dictator Idi Amin in the 1970s.
Sept. 29
“Children of Men,” with Julianne Moore (“The Hours”) and Clive Owen (“Sin City”) in a 2027-set sci-fi thriller about a woman who becomes pregnant despite a global infertility epidemic.
“Flyboys,” with James Franco (“Annapolis”) and Jean Reno (“The Pink Panther”) in a fact-based tale about American pilots who flew for the French army during World War I.
“Open Season,” with the voices of Martin Lawrence (“Bad Boys”) and Ashton Kutcher (“Guess Who”) in a computer-animated tale about a grizzly bear with no survival skills and a wild mule deer with no common sense who decide to leave their safe environment and venture into the wild.
“School for Scoundrels,” with Billy Bob Thornton (“Bad Santa”) and Jon Heder (“Napoleon Dynamite”) in a comedy about a powerful professor and a depressed traffic cop competing for the affections of the same woman. Comics Sarah Silverman, Horatio Sanz and David Cross co-star, and Todd Phillips (“Old School”) directed.
“The U.S. vs. John Lennon,” a documentary on the antiwar activities of the late Beatles member and how the government investigated his protests.
Oct. 4
“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning,” with Cyia Batten (“Charlie’s Angels”) and Diora Baird (“Wedding Crashers”) in a prequel that has the two actresses running to avoid a buzz-cut.
Oct. 6
“Breaking and Entering” with Jude Law (“Cold Mountain”), Juliette Binoche (“The English Patient”) and Robin Wright Penn (“The Princess Bride”) in director Anthony Minghella’s romantic thriller about a London architect who goes behind the back of his significant other to have an affair with a poor Bosnian refugee and then finds his life turning upside down.
“The Departed,” with director Martin Scorsese gathering a dream cast -including Jack Nicholson (“As Good As It Gets”), Leonardo DiCaprio (“Titanic”), Matt Damon (“The Bourne Supremacy”) and Mark Wahlberg (“Invincible”) – in a Boston-set crime drama. In the story, the police are trying to infiltrate the mob with an undercover officer and a gang kingpin is attempting to plant one of his underlings in the police department. It’s based on the acclaimed Japanese crime thriller “Infernal Affairs.”
“Little Children,” with Kate Winslet (“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”), Patrick Wilson (“Hard Candy”) and Jennifer Connelly (“Dark Water”) in an edgy drama about a couple who decide to begin affairs at the same time a pedophile moves into their suburban neighborhood.
“Shortbus” with Paul Dawson in a controversial unrated film in which writer-director John Cameron Mitchell (“Hedwig and the Angry Inch”) uses graphic sex scenes while telling a story about the ribald events at an underground salon in New York City.
“Stormbreaker,” with Ewan McGregor (“Moulin Rouge”) and Mickey Rourke (“Sin City”) in a family film about a teenager who discovers that his seemingly ordinary uncle is a British spy and needs help on a dangerous mission that has him battling a deadly billionaire.
Oct. 13
“The Grudge 2,” with Amber Tamblyn (“Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants”) in a horror sequel that has an evil spirit vacating a burned-down house in Tokyo to terrify new victims.
“Infamous,” with unknown actor Toby Jones playing -a la Oscar-winner Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Capote” -author Truman Capote around the time he was writing “In Cold Blood.” Daniel Craig (“Munich”) and Sandra Bullock (“The Lake House”) co-star.
“Man of the Year,” with Robin Williams (“The Night Listener”), Christopher Walken (“Wedding Crashers”) and Lewis Black (TV’s “The Daily Show”) in a dark comedy about a comic who specializes in political humor. He runs for the presidency, wins the highest office in the land and then discovers that he only triumphed due to a malfunction in the voting machines.
“The Marine,” with WWE favorite John Cena as a soldier who returns from Iraq and then must use his combat skills to locate his wife after she’s kidnapped by a crime syndicate.
Oct. 20
“Fast Food Nation,” with Ethan Hawke (“After Sunrise”) and Greg Kinnear (“Invincible”) in a drama about how beef goes from the slaughterhouse to fast-food outlets.
“Flags of Our Fathers,” with Ryan Phillippe (“Crash”), Adam Beach (“Windtalkers”) and Paul Walker (“Running Scared”) in a World War II drama about the American military men who raised the flag on Iwo Jima in 1949. Clint Eastwood (“Million Dollar Baby”) is directing the film and creating two versions, one for America showing the U.S. point of view and another -“Red Sun, Black Sand” – for the Asian market presenting the Japanese viewpoint.
“Flicka,” with Maria Bello (“A History of Violence”), Tim McGraw (“Friday Night Lights”) and Alison Lohan (“White Oleander”) in a family tale about a young woman who assumes responsibility for taming a wild horse in order to impress her father. It’s a remake of “My Friend Flicka.”
“Marie Antoinette,” with Kirsten Dunst (“Spider-Man”) in director Sofia Coppola’s historical drama about the teenage queen who battles the corruption in the French court and finds herself scandalized due to the manipulation of those who fear losing their power.
“The Prestige,” with Hugh Jackman (“X-Men: The Last Stand”), Scarlett Johansson (“Scoop”), Christian Bale (“Batman Begins”), Michael Caine (“Get Carter”) and rocker-turned-actor David Bowie (“The Man Who Fell to Earth”) in a drama about two rival magicians who compete for the public’s attention at the turn of the 20th century.
Oct. 27
“Babel,” with Brad Pitt (“Mr. & Mrs. Smith”) and Cate Blanchett (“The Aviator”) in a drama in which an American couple in Morocco are involved in a tragic accident that sets in motion a chain of events that touches four families in different countries.
“Catch a Fire,” with Tim Robbins (“Mystic River”) and Derek Luke (“Antwone Fisher”) in a fact-based political thriller that’s set in South Africa during the time of apartheid and follows a black oil-refinery worker who’s terrorized by the authorities and becomes a rebel due to the vicious treatment.
“Lucky You,” with Eric Bana (“Munich”), Drew Barrymore (“50 First Dates”) and Robert Duvall (“Open Range”) in a family drama about a poker champion who must play a game against his shrewd and cruel card-playing father at Las Vegas’ World Series of Poker.
“Running With Scissors,” with Annette Bening (“American Beauty”), Alec Baldwin (“The Aviator”) and Evan Rachel Wood (“Thirteen”) in a comedy-drama about a young boy sent to live with an unorthodox psychiatrist after his parents divorce. The screenplay is based on the personal memoirs of Augusten Burroughs.
“Saw III,” with Tobin Bell and Shawnee Smith returning with more deadly traps and chilling scares as the wildly successful horror series continues.
“Tim Burton’s A Nightmare Before Christmas in 3-D” with the characters, created via stop-motion animation, jumping off the screen.
Nov. 3
“Borat,” with Sacha Baron Cohen (“Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby”) and Pamela Anderson (TV’s “Baywatch”) in a politically incorrect comedy about a Kazakhstani TV reporter who continually asks insulting and inappropriate questions.
“Flushed Away,” with the voices of Hugh Jackman (“Snoop”), Kate Winslet (“Finding Neverland”) and Jean Reno (“Leon, The Professional”) providing the voices for a computer-animated tale that employs clay-puppet figures to tell a story about a spoiled mouse suddenly alone and scared after being flushed into the sewers of London.
“The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause,” with Tim Allen returning as St. Nick, who must deal with his visiting in-laws and fight to stop Jack Frost (Martin Short of “Father of the Bride”) from taking over his toy operation at the North Pole.
Nov. 8
“The Reaping,” with Hilary Swank (“Million Dollar Baby”) in a melodrama about a Christian missionary who loses her faith after a family tragedy and then agrees to help the people in a remote Louisiana town after it appears they are being destroyed by a Biblical plague.
Nov. 10
“Fur,” with Nicole Kidman (“Moulin Rouge”) and Robert Downey Jr. (“Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang”) in a 1958-set tale revolving around brilliantly eccentric photographer Diane Arbus.
“A Good Year,” with Russell Crowe (“Cinderella Man”) and Albert Finney (“Ocean’s Twelve”) in a comedy about a stiff Englishman who moves to Provence in France and becomes obsessed with the vineyards on property he inherited from a family member.
“Stranger Than Fiction,” with Will Ferrell (“Anchorman”), Maggie Gyllenhaal (“World Trade Center”) and Queen Latifah (“Last Holiday”) in a comedy about the collision between reality and fantasy after a character in a book comes to life and discovers that the author who created him plans to kill him off.
Nov. 17
“Candy,” with Heath Ledger (“Brokeback Mountain”) and Australian newcomer Abbie Cornish in a romantic drama about a poet and art student whose love affair is destroyed by heroin.
“Casino Royale,” with Daniel Craig (“Munich”) making his debut at James Bond in a tale that has 007 battling a banker who funds terrorists and earns much of his money through high-stakes poker games.
“Come Early Morning,” with Ashley Judd (“Kiss the Girls”) in an independent film about a whiskey-loving Southern woman who awakens after a night of hard drinking and meets a mysterious stranger to whom she’s immediately attracted.
“Happy Feet,” with the voices of Elijah Wood (the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy) and Robin Williams (“RV”) in a family tale that uses computer-generated images to tell a story of a looking-for-love penguin.
“The Hoax,” with Richard Gere (“Chicago”) in a fact-based drama about Clifford Irving, the deceptive author who convinced publishers that he had interviewed the reclusive Howard Hughes and wrote a book about the supposed encounter.
“The Return,” with Michelle Gellar (“The Grudge”) in a supernatural thriller about a young woman haunted by nightmares in which she witnesses the murder of a woman she has never met.
“Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny,” with Jack Black (“King Kong”) and his old music partner Kyle Gass in a comedy that has two veteran rockers on a journey to find a guitar pick with awesome powers.
Nov. 22
“Bobby,” with Anthony Hopkins (“The Silence of the Lambs”), Lindsay Lohan (“A Prairie Home Companion”), Laurence Fishburne (“The Matrix”), Elijah Wood (“Sin City”) and Martin Sheen (TV’s “The West Wing”) in an ensemble tale that revisits the night Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated at Los Angeles’ Ambassador Hotel in 1968. Actor-turned-filmmaker Emilio Estevez wrote and directed.
“Deck the Halls,” with Danny DeVito (“The Oh in Ohio”) and Matthew Broderick (“The Producers”) in a holiday comedy about a man who’s obsessed with putting enough Christmas lights on his house to make it visible from outer space.
“D?j? Vu,” with Denzel Washington (“Inside Man”), Val Kilmer (“Spartan”), Paula Patton (“Idlewild”) and Jim Caviezel (“The Passion of the Christ”) in director Tony Scott’s sci-fi thriller about a detective who goes back in time to save a woman and then falls in love with her.
“The Fountain,” with Hugh Jackman (“X-Men”) and Rachel Weisz (“The Constant Gardener”) in director Darren Aronofsky’s awaited examination of romance as seen through the eyes of a man seeking love in three extremely different time periods.
“The History Boys,” with Richard Griffiths recreating his Tony Award-winning Broadway role as the maverick teacher of eight unruly British students who want to talk about sex and sports. It’s based on the play by Alan Bennett.
“Let’s Go to Prison,” with Will Arnett (TV’s “Arrested Development”) and Chi McBride (TV’s “Boston Public”) in an edgy comedy about a criminal who returns to prison to exact revenge against the son of a stern judge known for throwing the book at crooks.
Dec. 1
“The Nativity Story,” with Keisha Castle-Hughes (“Whale Rider”) in a religious tale about the birth of Jesus.
Dec. 8
“Apocalypto,” with Mel Gibson (“The Passion of the Christ”) directing a mythical adventure tale about a man who must fight the invading forces threatening the Mayan civilization. There’s no word on whether Gibson’s alcohol-fueled anti-Semitic comments will cause this title to be delayed.
“The Good German,” with George Clooney (“Syriana”) and Cate Blanchett (the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy) in a black-and-white suspense tale about a man who returns to postwar Berlin to find his former lover and becomes involved in a murder mystery.
“The Holiday,” with Cameron Diaz (“There’s Something About Mary”) and Kate Winslet (“Finding Neverland”) in a romantic comedy about two women from different sides of the globe who meet on the Internet, talk about their desire for some spice in their lives and then decide to swap houses for the Christmas holidays.
“Unaccompanied Minors,” with comic Louis Black (“Accepted”) in a family comedy about some children stranded in an airport on Christmas Eve.
Dec. 15
“Blood Diamond,” with Leonardo DiCaprio (“Gangs of New York”), Djimon Hounsou (“Gladiator”) and Jennifer Connelly (“A Beautiful Mind”) in a tale about a mercenary in South Africa who agrees to help a fisherman fighting the diamond cartels that turn workers into slaves.
“Eragon,” with Jeremy Irons (“The French Lieutenant’s Woman”) and John Malkovich (“In the Line of Fire”) in a sword-and-sorcery fantasy about a teenager and a dragon who join forces to overthrow a brutal ruler.
“Home of the Brave,” with Samuel L. Jackson (“Snakes on a Plane”), Jessica Biel (“The Illusionist”) and rapper-turned-actor 50 Cent (“Get Rich or Die Tryin'”) in a drama about soldiers returning from combat duty in Iraq.
“The Painted Veil,” with Edward Norton (“Fight Club”), Naomi Watts (“King Kong”) and Liev Schreiber (“The Omen”) in a drama based on W. Somerset Maugham’s novel about a doctor and his wife traveling deep into China to treat the victims of a cholera epidemic.
“The Pursuit of Happyness,” with Will Smith (“Bad Boys 2”) and Thandie Newton (“Mission: Impossible II”) in a fact-based story about an out-of-work salesman who lives on the street with his 5-year-old son, manages to hide his financial problems and lands an internship at a prestigious stock-brokerage firm.
Dec. 20
“Charlotte’s Web,” with Dakota Fanning (“War of the Worlds”) in a live-action version of the children’s favorite. Oprah Winfrey and Julia Roberts will provide voices for two of the animals.
Dec. 22
“The Good Shepherd,” with Matt Damon (“Syriana”), Angelina Jolie (“Mr. & Mrs. Smith”) and Robert De Niro (“Raging Bull”) in a drama about the first 40 years of the CIA as seen through the eyes of one of the agency’s founders. De Niro also directed.
“Night at the Museum,” with Ben Stiller (“Meet the Fockers”), Robin Williams (“Good Will Hunting”) and screen veterans Dick Van Dyke and Mickey Rooney in a family comedy set in New York City’s American Museum of Natural History, a place where the prehistoric creatures come to life each night.
“Notes on a Scandal,” with Cate Blanchett (the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy), Judi Dench (“Shakespeare in Love”) and Bill Nighy (“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest”) in a drama about a teacher who begins an affair with one of her teenage students. It’s based on the 2003 novel “What Was She Thinking?: Notes on a Scandal” by Zoe Heller.
“Rocky Balboa,” with Sylvester Stallone returning for the sixth time as Philadelphia’s Italian Stallion. In this installment, the aging boxer agrees to an exhibition bout that turns into a bloody and brutal bout with the title character once again battling to go the distance.
“We Are Marshall,” with Matthew McConaughey (“Sahara”), David Strathairn (“Good Night, And Good Luck”) and Matthew Fox (TV’s “Lost”) in a true story about the coaches at Marshall College who formed a new team after their players and most of the other coaches died in a 1970 plane crash.
Dec. 25
“Black Christmas,” with Michelle Trachtenberg (“Eurotrip”) in a remake of the chiller about members of a sorority house terrorized by a killer during the December holiday break.
“Dreamgirls,” with Beyonce Knowles (“The Pink Panther”), Jamie Foxx (“Ray”) and Eddie Murphy (“Shrek”) in the awaited screen adaptation of the stage musical about a singing trio inspired by the Supremes.
Dec. 29
“Miss Potter,” with Renee Zellweger (“Bridges Jones’s Diary”) and Ewan McGregor (“Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace”) in a tale that combines live action and animation to tell the story of children’s author Beatrix Potter.
“Pan’s Labyrinth,” with Spanish filmmaker Guillermo del Toro (“Blade II”) directing a modernized version of “Alice in Wonderland” that has a girl seeking refuge from her fascist stepfather by entering a magical labyrinth that she believes will help her cope with the dangers of the outside world.
Sources used for this story include: Variety, Boxoffice magazine, Film Journal International, Entertainment Weekly, Premiere, The Hollywood Reporter and the Internet Movie Database.