Vying to Be Legends of the Fall

Friday

BARBERSHOP

Comedy MGM

With: Ice Cube, Sean Patrick Thomas, Troy Garity, Leonard Earl Howze, Cedric the Entertainer and rapper Eve.

The idea: Interesting characters congregate at Chicago clip joint.

Writers: Mark Brown and Don D. Scott and Marshall Todd; story by Brown.

Director: Tim Story.

So? Shear wit.

HOW I KILLED MY FATHER

Drama New Yorker Films

With: Michel Bouquet, Charles Berling, Natacha Regnier.

The idea: Long-estranged father’s return shatters successful gerontologist’s peaceful existence.

Writers: Jacques Fieschi, Anne Fontaine.

Director: Fontaine.

So? Fontaine and Berling teamed on the sexy 1997 drama “Dry Cleaning.”

IGBY GOES DOWN

Black comedy United Artists

With: Kieran Culkin, Claire Danes, Jeff Goldblum, Jared Harris.

The idea: Teen from dysfunctional family seeks refuge among eccentric New Yorkers.

Writer-director: Burr Steers.

So? Steers, a nephew of Gore Vidal, co-starred in Whit Stillman’s “The Last Days of Disco.”

QUITTING

Drama Sony Pictures Classics

With: Jia Hongsheng, Jia Fengsen, Chai Xiurong, Wang Tong.

The idea: True story of Chinese movie star Jia Hongsheng and his plunge into drug-induced isolation.

Writers: Zhang Yang and Huo Xin.

Director: Zhang.

So? Reality bites. People involved play themselves.

STEALING HARVARD

Comedy Columbia

With: Tom Green, Jason Lee, Leslie Mann, Megan Mullally.

The idea: Underfinanced family must come up with big bucks when daughter is accepted by Harvard.

Writer: Peter Tolan; story by Martin Hynes and Tolan.

Director: Bruce McCulloch.

So? Can Kid in the Hall McCulloch revive fellow Canuck Green’s career?

THE TRANSPORTER

Action Fox

With: Jason Statham, Shu Qi, Matt Schulze.

The idea: Expert courier gets involved in the kidnapping of a beautiful Chinese woman.

Writers: Luc Besson & Robert Mark Kamen.

Director: Cory Yuen.

So? U.S. directing debut for martial arts choreographer and frequent Jet Li collaborator Yuen.

Sept. 20

APOLLO 13

THE IMAX EXPERIENCE

Drama Universal

With: Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, Gary Sinise, Ed Harris, Kathleen Quinlan.

The idea: Mishap imperils moon mission, triggers taut rescue effort.

Writers: William Broyles Jr. & Al Reinert; based on the book “Lost Moon” by Jim Lovell and Jeffrey Kluger.

Director: Ron Howard.

So? The 1995 hit is the first 35-millimeter live-action film to be digitally remastered into ultra-large Imax format.

BALLISTIC: ECKS VS. SEVER

Action Warner Bros.

With: Lucy Liu, Antonio Banderas, Gregg Henry, Ray Park.

The idea: Rivals vie for an advanced assassination device.

Writer: Alan McElroy.

Director: Kaos.

So? Kicks. Lots of them.

THE BANGER SISTERS

Comedy Fox Searchlight

With: Goldie Hawn, Susan Sarandon, Geoffrey Rush, Erika Christensen.

The idea: Two ‘60s-era rock groupies reunite in middle age. One has changed; the other hasn’t.

Writer-director: Bob Dolman.

So? Funny parental perspective.

DAS EXPERIMENT

Dramatic thriller IDP/Samuel Goldwyn

With: Moritz Bleibtreu, Christian Berkel, Oliver Stokowski, Wotan Wilke Mohring.

The idea: Psychological research turns into power struggle between role-playing “prisoners” and “guards.”

Writers: Mario Giordano, Christoph Darnstadt, Don Bohlinger; based on Giordano’s novel “Black Box.”

Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel.

So? Bleibtreu ran with Franka Potente in “Run Lola Run.”

8 WOMEN

Musical-comedy-mystery Focus Features

With: Catherine Deneuve, Isabelle Huppert, Emmanuelle Beart, Fanny Ardant.

The idea: They’re all suspects in the murder of a family patriarch and regularly break into song.

Writer-director: Francois Ozon.

So? Sort of a Douglas Sirk spoof.

THE FOUR FEATHERS

Adventure Paramount

With: Heath Ledger, Wes Bentley, Kate Hudson, Djimon Hounsou.

The idea: Disgraced British officer in 1898 Sudan surreptitiously redeems his honor.

Writers: Michael Schiffer and Hossein Amini; based on the novel by A.E.W. Mason.

Director: Shekhar Kapur.

So? Colonialism and the colonized.

A GUY THING

Comedy MGM

With: Jason Lee, Julia Stiles, Selma Blair, James Brolin.

The idea: Groom-to-be tells a little lie, with consequences.

Writers: Greg Glienna & Pete Schwaba, Matt Tarses & Bill Wrubel; story by Glienna.

Director: Chris Koch.

So? Koch directed the 2000 sleeper hit “Snow Day.”

INVINCIBLE

Drama Fine Line

With: Tim Roth, Jouko Ahola, Anna Gourari.

The idea: Jewish blacksmith riles Nazis by billing himself as the world’s strongest man.

Writer-director: Werner Herzog.

So: Herzog is always an event for cineastes.

THE MESMERIST

Thriller 7th Arts

With: Neil Patrick Harris, Jessica Capshaw, Jason Carter, Howard Hesseman.

The idea: Doctor hypnotizes dying man.

Writers: Ron Marasco and Michael Goorjian; based on the short story “The Facts in the Case of Mr. Valdemar” by Edgar Allan Poe.

Director: Gil Cates Jr.

So? Transcendent humor.

MIYAZAKI’S SPIRITED AWAY

Animated fantasy Disney

With: Voices of Daveigh Chase, Lauren Holly and Suzanne Pleshette.

The idea: Girl and her parents stumble into a parallel universe of magic and spirits.

Writer-director: Hayao Miyazaki.

So? “Toy Story’s” John Lasseter guides English-language translation of Japanese master for U.S. audiences.

SECRETARY

Comedy Lions Gate

With: James Spader, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Lesley Ann Warren, Jeremy Davies.

The idea: Attorney and secretary have an unconventional affair.

Writer: Erin Cressida Wilson.

Director: Steven Shainberg.

So? This office assistant takes spankings as well as dictation.

SLAP HER, SHE’S FRENCH

Comedy Premiere

With: Piper Perabo, Jane McGregor, Trent Ford, Michael McKean, Julie White.

The idea: French foreign exchange student targets Texas teenager who has it all.

Writers: Lamar Damon & Robert Lee King.

Director: Melanie Mayron.

So? “All About Eve” goes to high school.

TRAPPED

Thriller Columbia

With: Charlize Theron, Courtney Love, Stuart Townsend, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Dakota Fanning, Kevin Bacon.

The idea: Two couples--one kidnappers, one victims--face off as extortion plan unravels.

Writer: Greg Iles, based on his novel “24 Hours.”

Director: Luis Mandoki.

So? Touchy subject.

Sept. 27

BIGGIE AND TUPAC

Documentary Roxie Releasing

The idea: Investigates the slayings of rappers Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur.

Director: Nick Broomfield.

So? “Kurt & Courtney’s” Broomfield has experience stirring things up.

CRAZY AS HELL

Drama Artistic License

With: Michael Beach, Eriq LaSalle, Ronny Cox, John C. McGinley, Sinbad, Tia Texada, Tracy Pettit.

The idea: Maverick psychiatrist is shadowed by documentary film crew as he treats patient who claims to be Satan.

Writers: Jeremy Leven and Erik Jendresen; based on Leven’s novel “Satan.”

Director: LaSalle.

So? Reunion for “ER” alumni LaSalle and Beach.

JUST A KISS

Comedy Paramount Classics

With: Zoe Caldwell, Taye Diggs, Kyra Sedgwick, Marisa Tomei.

The idea: Two Manhattan couples confront fidelity issues.

Writer: Patrick Breen.

Director: Fisher Stevens.

So? Clever use of animation with live action.

MOONLIGHT MILE

Drama Disney

With: Jake Gyllenhaal, Dustin Hoffman, Susan Sarandon, Holly Hunter, Ellen Pompeo.

The idea: Living with parents of deceased fiancee complicates grieving process for groom-to-be.

Writer-director: Brad Silberling.

So? Fascinating look at catharsis arising from personal tragedy for Silberling.

SWEET HOME ALABAMA

Romantic comedy Touchstone

With: Reese Witherspoon, Fred Ward, Mary Kay Place, Patrick Dempsey, Candice Bergen, Jean Smart.

The idea: Fashion designer’s glamorous life becomes complicated by her past as a Southern wild child.

Writers: C. Jay Cox; story by Douglas J. Eboch.

Director: Andy Tennant.

So? Sweet as sugar cane.

THE TUXEDO

Comedy DreamWorks

With: Jackie Chan, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Jason Isaacs, Debi Mazar.

The idea: Formal wear transforms chauffeur into trouble-prone secret agent.

Writers: Michael J. Wilson and Michael Leeson; story by Phil Hay & Matt Manfredi and Wilson.

Director: Kevin Donovan.

So? Chan-tastic.

WASABI

Action-comedy TriStar

With: Jean Reno, Ryoku Hirosue, Michel Muller.

The idea: French police inspector finds himself in Tokyo following the death of an old flame.

Writer: Luc Besson.

Director: Gerard Krawczyck.

So? Prolific writer-producer Besson’s second film this fall after “The Transporter.”

Sept. TBA

BIG SHOT’S FUNERAL

Comedy Sony Pictures Classics

With: Donald Sutherland, Ge You, Rosamund Kwan, Paul Mazursky.

The idea: Veteran director breaks down while filming a remake of “The Last Emperor” in China, setting off a series of comic misunderstandings.

Writers: Feng Xiaogang, Li Xiaoming, Shi Kang.

Director: Feng Xiaogang.

So? Satire of international media, using the Chinese tradition of extravagantly celebrating the “dearly departed’s” life well-lived.

CHILDREN OF THE CENTURY

Drama Empire Pictures

With: Juliette Binoche, Benoit Magimel, Stefano Dinisi.

The idea: The doomed romance between novelist George Sand and younger poet Alfred de Musset enthralls Parisian society.

Writers: Francoise Olivier Rousseau, Murray Head, Diane Kurys.

Director: Kurys.

So? Title riffs on De Musset’s only novel, “Confessions of a Child of the Century.”

Oct. 4

ALIAS BETTY

Thriller Wellspring Media

With: Sandrine Kiberlaine, Nicole Garcia, Mathilde Seigner.

The idea: Grieving mother gets entangled in a kidnapping.

Writer-director: Claude Miller; based on Ruth Rendell’s novel “The Tree of Hands.”

So? French director Miller finds psychological depth in crime novel.

BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE

Documentary United Artists

The idea: A look at guns and violence in American society.

Writer-director: Michael Moore.

So? Political and provocative, of course.

HEAVEN

Drama Miramax

With: Cate Blanchett, Giovanni Ribisi.

The idea: British woman in Italy takes justice for a drug kingpin into her own hands.

Writers: Krzysztof Kieslowski, Krzysztof Piesiewicz.

Director: Tom Tykwer.

So? Blanchett is convincing even if the material ultimately isn’t.

HIS SECRET LIFE

Drama Strand

With: Margherita Buy, Stefano Accorsi, Serra Yilmaz.

The idea: Widow pieces together late husband’s secrets when she meets his lover.

Writers: Ferzan Ozpetek and Gianni Romoli.

Director: Ozpetek.

So? Ozpetek directed “Steam.”

JONAH--A VEGGIETALES MOVIE

Animated Artisan

The idea: TV veggies reunite and embark on an adventure involving a whale.

Writer-directors: Mike Nawrocki, Phil Vischer.

So? Theatrical feature debut for the TV and video franchise.

THE MAN FROM ELYSIAN FIELDS

Comedy IDP/Samuel Goldwyn-Fireworks

With: Andy Garcia, Mick Jagger, Julianna Margulies, Olivia Williams, James Coburn.

The idea: Struggling writer becomes a gigolo and enters the strange world of an aging author.

Writer: Philip Jayson Lasker.

Director: George Hickenlooper.

So? Jagger plays Garcia’s pimp.

RED DRAGON

Thriller Universal

With: Anthony Hopkins, Edward Norton, Ralph Fiennes, Harvey Keitel, Emily Watson.

The idea: Former FBI agent comes out of retirement and reunites with an old nemesis, Hannibal Lecter.

Writer: Ted Tally; based on the novel by Thomas Harris.

Director: Brett Ratner.

So? Appetizing goose bumps.

WELCOME TO COLLINWOOD

Comedy Warner Bros.

With: Luis Guzman, Patricia Clarkson, Sam Rockwell, William H. Macy, Isaiah Washington, George Clooney.

The idea: Denizens of a working-class neighborhood vie to carry out an incarcerated buddy’s caper.

Writer-directors: Anthony & Joe Russo; based on the 1958 Italian film “I Soliti Ignoti,” a.k.a. “Big Deal on Madonna Street,” by Suso Checchi D’Amico, Mario Municelli, Agenore Incrocci, Furio Scarpelli.

So? Quaintly quirky.

Oct. 11

BLOODY SUNDAY

Drama Paramount Classics

With: James Nesbitt, Tim Pigott-Smith, Nicholas Farrell, Gerard McSorley.

The idea: Depicts the fateful events of Jan. 30, 1972, when British troops fired on civil rights demonstrators in Londonderry, Northern Ireland.

Writer-director: Paul Greengrass; based on the book “Bloody Sunday: Massacre in Northern Ireland: The Eyewitness Accounts.”

So? Provocative, but quasi-documentary style is initially distracting.

BROWN SUGAR

Drama Fox Searchlight

With: Taye Diggs, Sanaa Lathan, Mos Def, Nicole Ari Parker.

The idea: Music critic and record executive trace their careers and friendship to the birth of hip-hop.

Writers: Michael Elliot and Rick Famuyiwa; story by Elliot.

Director: Famuyiwa.

So? Fresh perspective, adroitly conceived.

THE GREY ZONE

Drama Lions Gate

With: David Arquette, Steve Buscemi, Harvey Keitel, Mira Sorvino.

The idea: Moral dilemmas complicate the only armed revolt to take place at Auschwitz.

Writer-director: Tim Blake Nelson.

So? Compelling events.

KNOCKAROUND GUYS

Drama New Line

With: Barry Pepper, Vin Diesel, Seth Green, Andrew Davoli, Dennis Hopper, John Malkovich.

The idea: Flatbush versus sagebrush as four sons of mobsters confront Montana sheriff.

Writer-directors: Brian Koppelman & David Levien.

So? Shot before Diesel got hot.

POKEMON 4EVER

Animation Miramax

The idea: The newest Pokemon, Celebi, hooks up with Ash and Pikachu.

Writer: Michael Haigney.

Director: Jim Malone.

So? Pokemon fever has ebbed, at least for screen versions.

PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE

Comedy Columbia

With: Adam Sandler, Emily Watson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Luis Guzman.

The idea: Man tries to overcome psychological trauma from seven sisters and find romance.

Writer-director: Paul Thomas Anderson.

So? Anderson’s affection for eccentrics and San Fernando Valley is intact.

THE RULES OF ATTRACTION

Comedy Lions Gate

With: James Van Der Beek, Shannyn Sossamon, Jessica Biel, Ian Somerhalder.

The idea: Students at exclusive college cavort and couple in a variety of combinations.

Writer: Roger Avary; based on Bret Easton Ellis’ second novel.

Director: Avary.

So? Fans of Ellis may approve, but not for the faint of heart.

SKINS

Drama First Look

With: Graham Greene, Eric Schweig.

The idea: Two Sioux brothers cope in different ways with the indignity of reservation existence.

Writer: Jennifer D. Lyne; based on the novel by Adrian Louis.

Director: Chris Eyre.

So? Eyre, who directed “Smoke Signals,” knows the territory.

SWEPT AWAY

Romantic comedy Screen Gems

With: Madonna, Adriano Giannini, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Bruce Greenwood.

The idea: Remake the Lina Wertmuller classic about a sailor and an imperious employer whose roles are reversed when they’re marooned.

Writer-director: Guy Ritchie.

So? It is a remake, but Ritchie is husband of Madonna, and Giannini is the son of the original male lead.

TUCK EVERLASTING

Drama Disney

With: Alexis Bledel, Ben Kingsley, Sissy Spacek, Amy Irving.

The idea: Teenage girl gets lost in the woods, becomes drawn to an unusual family.

Writers: Jeffrey Lieber and James V. Hart; based on the book by Natalie Babbitt.

Director: Jay Russell.

So? Dreamlike book was a beloved award-winner.

WHITE OLEANDER

Drama Warner Bros.

With: Michelle Pfeiffer, Alison Lohman, Robin Wright Penn, Renee Zellweger.

The idea: Teenage daughter spends an eventful three years in a series of foster homes.

Writer: Mary Agnes Donoghue; based on the novel by Janet Fitch.

Director: Peter Kosminsky.

So? Pfeiffer is imposing as the mother.

Oct. 18

ABANDON

Thriller Paramount

With: Katie Holmes, Benjamin Bratt, Charlie Hunnam, Zooey Deschanel.

The idea: A woman is conflicted by an investigation into her boyfriend’s disappearance.

Writer-director: Stephen Gaghan.

So? Will this be a Bratt breakthrough?

AUTO FOCUS

Drama Sony Pictures Classics

With: Greg Kinnear, Willem Dafoe, Maria Bello, Rita Wilson.

The idea: A look at the libidinous life and mysterious murder of TV star Bob Crane.

Writer: Michael Gerbosi; based on the book “The Murder of Bob Crane” by Robert Graysmith.

Director: Paul Schrader.

So? One of Hollywood’s more lurid mysteries.

FORMULA 51

Action-comedy Screen Gems

With: Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Carlyle, Emily Mortimer, Sean Pertwee.

The idea: Entrepreneur’s grand plan for a designer drug unravels in a series of double-crosses.

Writer: Stel Pavlou.

Director: Ronny Yu.

So? Think “Snatch” with Hong Kong flair.

THE HAPPINESS

OF THE KATAKURIS

Musical comedy-horror Vitagraph

With: Kenji Sawada, Keiko Matsuzaka, Shinji Takeda, Naomi Nishida, Tamaki Miyazaki.

The idea: At rural Japanese lodging house, all the guests turn up dead. Set to music.

Writer: Kikumu Yamagishi.

Director: Takashi Miike.

So? Singing family, mountain lodge, dead guests, karaoke, clay animation....

LOVE IN THE TIME OF MONEY

Dramatic comedy ThinkFilm

With: Steve Buscemi, Jill Hennessy, Rosario Dawson, Michael Imperioli.

The idea: A portrait of boom-time Manhattan is linked by a succession of sexual encounters.

Writer-director: Peter Mattei.

So? Updates Arthur Schnitzler’s play “Reigen.” His “Traumnovelle” was the basis for “Eyes Wide Shut.”

NAQOYQATSI

Documentary Miramax

The idea: The third entry in the series of visuals-and-music montage concerns the world’s passage from nature to technology.

Writer-director: Godfrey Reggio.

So? Philip Glass score features Yo-Yo Ma.

REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES

Dramatic comedy Newmarket/HBO Films

With: America Ferrara, Lupe Ontiveros, Ingrid Oliu.

The idea: A young Latina’s aspirations vie with cultural expectations.

Writers: George LaVoo, Josefina Lopez.

Director: Patricia Cardoso.

So? Won audience award and special acting prize for Ferrara and Ontiveros at Sundance.

THE RING

Thriller DreamWorks

With: Naomi Watts, Martin Henderson, David Dorfman, Brian Cox.

The idea: Reporter investigates the link between a grisly video and mysterious deaths.

Writer: Ehren Kruger; based on the novel by Koji Suzuki and the 1998 Japanese film.

Director: Gore Verbinski.

So? Early word is quite favorable.

Oct. 25

ALL OR NOTHING

Drama United Artists

With: Timothy Spall, Lesley Manville, Alison Garland, James Corden.

The idea: Working-class London is the setting for the story of a couple and a tragedy that rekindles their love.

Writer-director: Mike Leigh.

So? Bittersweet as only Leigh can be.

ALL THE QUEEN’S MEN

Comedy Strand

With: Matt LeBlanc, Eddie Izzard, James Cosmo, Nicolette Krebitz.

The idea: Allied agents dress as women to infiltrate a Nazi factory.

Writer: David Schneider; story by Digby Wolfe & Joseph Manduke and June Roberts.

Director: Stefan Ruzowitsky.

So? LeBlanc looks pretty good in a dress; Izzard’s pretty funny.

FRIDA

Drama-biography Miramax

With: Salma Hayek, Alfred Molina, Mia Maestro, Roger Rees, Geoffrey Rush.

The idea: Artists Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera stir things up with their works and their play.

Writers: Clancy Sigal and Diane Lake and Gregory Nava & Anna Thomas; based on the book by Hayden Herrera.

Director: Julie Taymor.

So? Hayek’s labor of love shows.

GHOST SHIP

Thriller Warner Bros.

With: Gabriel Byrne, Julianna Margulies, Desmond Harrington.

The idea: Good news: Salvagers discover long-abandoned ocean liner. Bad news: It’s not entirely abandoned.

Writers: Mark Hanlon and John Pogue; story by Hanlon.

Director: Steve Beck.

So? Spooks ahoy.

HUSH!

Comedy Strand

With: Seichi Tanabe, Kazuya Takahashi, Reiko Kataoku.

The idea: A woman and a gay male couple consider parenthood.

Writer-director: Hashiguchi Ryosuke.

So? Another triangle from Ryosuke (“Like Grains of Sand”).

JACKASS THE MOVIE

Comedy Paramount

With: Johnny Knoxville, Bam Margera, Chris Pontius, Steve-O.

The idea: The King of Pain leads his subjects through ever more outrageous stunts.

Director: Jeff Tremaine.

So? Hilariously revolting, emphasis on the latter.

ROGER DODGER

Comedy Artisan

With: Campbell Scott, Jesse Eisenberg, Isabella Rossellini, Jennifer Beals, Elizabeth Berkley.

The idea: Advertising copywriter guides teenage nephew through the Manhattan singles scene.

Writer-director: Dylan Kidd.

So? Smooth operator gets more than he bargains for.

TEKNOLUST

Science fiction Skouras Films

With: Tilda Swinton, Jeremy Davies, James Urbaniak, Karen Black, Josh Kornbluth, Thomas Jay Ryan.

The idea: Biogeneticist downloads her own DNA and creates three replicas of herself.

Writer-director: Lynn Hershman-Leeson.

So? Quadruple Swinton? We’re ready.

THE TRUTH ABOUT CHARLIE

Romantic thriller Universal

With: Mark Wahlberg, Thandie Newton, Tim Robbins, Joong-Hoon Park.

The idea: Woman finds herself widowed and pursued in Paris.

Writers: Jonathan Demme & Steve Schmidt and Pierre Marton and Jessica Bendinger. Based on the movie “Charade,” written by Peter Stone.

Director: Demme.

So? Intriguing.

WAKING UP IN RENO

Comedy Miramax

With: Billy Bob Thornton, Charlize Theron, Patrick Swayze, Natasha Richardson.

The idea: Two couples set out on an eventful road trip.

Writers: Brent Briscoe & Mark Fauser.

Director: Jordan Brady.

So? Billy Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice.

Oct. TBA

FRIENDS AND FAMILY

Comedy Regent Entertainment

With: Tony Lo Bianco, Greg Lauren, Christopher Gartin, Tovah Feldshuh.

The idea: The real gay mafia? A couple (literally) of mob hit men try to cover up their relationship when parents come to visit.

Writer: Joseph Triebwasser.

Director: Kristen Coury.

So? A fabulous, if derivative, idea for a movie.

LAWLESS HEART

Drama First Look

With: Bill Nighy, Douglas Henshall, Tom Hollander, Clementine Celarie.

The idea: Three men encounter different aspects of desire.

Writer-directors: Neil Hunter and Tom Hunsinger.

So? Coincidentally amusing.

ON GUARD!

Adventure Empire Pictures

With: Daniel Autueil, Fabrice Luchini, Vincent Perez, Marie Gillain, Philippe Noiret.

The idea: In 17th century France, an expert swordsman dons a disguise to carry out a promise to a slain duke.

Writers: Philippe de Broca, Jean Cosmos; based on Paul Feval’s novel “Le Bossu.”

Director: De Broca.

So? Feval was a popular contemporary of Victor Hugo and Alexandre Dumas pere et fils.

Nov. 1

THE CORE

Science fiction Paramount

With: Aaron Eckhart, Hilary Swank, Delroy Lindo, Stanley Tucci.

The idea: Scientists get boring when chemical-waste reaction throws Earth’s core off balance.

Writers: Cooper Layne and John Rogers.

Director: Jon Amiel.

So? “Journey to the Center of the Earth” with a nuclear device.

THE RISING PLACE

Drama Flatland Pictures

With: Frances Fisher, Alice Drummond, Laurel Holloman, Elise Neal, Mark Webber, Gary Cole, Tess Harper.

The idea: A young Mississippi Delta woman bucks social convention to have a child out of wedlock in the 1940s.

Writer-director: Tom Rice.

So? Took grand prize at 2001 Malibu Film Festival.

I SPY

Action-comedy Columbia

With: Eddie Murphy, Owen Wilson, Famke Janssen, Malcolm McDowell.

The idea: Update of ‘60s TV series pairs elite athlete with CIA agent to retrieve missing stealth bomber.

Writers: Cormac Wibberley & Marianne Sellek Wibberley, Jay Scherick & David Ronn.

Director: Betty Thomas.

So? High potential for comic chemistry.

THE SANTA CLAUSE 2

Comedy Disney

With: Tim Allen.

The idea: Mr. C hunts for a wife while a substitute Santa imperils Christmas.

Writer: Don Rhymer and Cinco Paul & Ken Daurio and Ed Decter & John J. Strauss; based on characters created by Leo Benvenuti & Steve Rudnick.

Director: Michael Lembeck.

So? Original was a surprise hit, but that was when Allen was a hot TV commodity.

THE WEIGHT OF WATER

Drama Lions Gate

With: Catherine McCormack, Sean Penn, Elizabeth Hurley, Sarah Polley.

The idea: A woman’s obsession with a 19th century murder plays out against her increasingly troubled marriage.

Writers: Alice Arlen and Christopher Kyle; based on the novel by Anita Shreve.

Director: Kathryn Bigelow.

So? Bigelow takes a break from action.

Fall TBA

HOPE SPRINGS

Romantic comedy Touchstone

With: Colin Firth, Heather Graham, Minnie Driver, Oliver Platt.

The idea: British artist on rebound rides roller coaster of romance in small-town Maine.

Writer-director: Mark Herman; based on the novel “New Cardiff” by Charles Webb.

So? Light and airy.

THE ISLE

Drama Empire Pictures

With: Suh Jung, Kim Yoo-Suk, Park Sung-Hee, Cho Jae-Hyung, Jang Hang-Sun.

The idea: Man on the run bonds with mysterious mute woman who runs a seaside fishing village.

Writer-director: Kim Ki-Duk.

So? Director’s films tend to incite feminist film critics.

*

EDITOR: Kinsey Lowe

CAPSULES: Richard Cromelin

RESEARCH: Kevin Crust