Grab your popcorn for the summer screenings

Associated Press

Holy prequel, Batman! Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) finds his calling in "Batman Begins," opening next month. Warner Bros. Pictures

Here are highlights of the summer season. Release dates are tentative, and some films play in limited release.

May

• "Kicking & Screaming": Will Ferrell /rampages for the gold as he coaches his son's soccer team to a showdown against his own father (Robert Duvall). Opens today.
• "Jiminy Glick in Lalawood": Martin Short puts on the fat suit in a big-screen take on the small-time entertainment critic he originated on TV.
• "Layer Cake": A low-key narcotics middleman (Daniel Craig) aiming to retire becomes a puppet in a power struggle among London mobsters. This film made its Honolulu debut at the recent Hawaii International Film Festival Spring Showcase.
• "The Longest Yard": The football remake stars Adam Sandler as a jailed ex-quarterback who leads an inmate team against sadistic guards. With Chris Rock.
• "Madagascar": Pampered zoo animals learn to rough it in this animated adventure. With the voices of Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer and Jada Pinkett Smith.
• "Mindhunters": FBI profilers race to identify a serial killer among them. With Val Kilmer, Christian Slater and LL Cool J. Opens today.
• "Modigliani": Andy Garcia stars as brazen artist Amedeo Modigliani, who lived hard and died young in 1920.
• "Monster-in-Law": A woman (Jennifer Lopez) finds her true love — and her true love's maniacally disapproving mom (Jane Fonda). Opens today.
• "Mysterious Skin": A teen who thinks he was abducted by aliens as a boy uncovers the truth about what happened to him and an old Little League teammate.
• "Saving Face": A New York surgeon (Michelle Krusiec) takes on unwanted family duties after her mother (Joan Chen) finds herself disgraced among her Chinese peers.
• "Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith": A villain is born as George Lucas concludes his coming-of-age saga about Darth Vader (Hayden Christensen). Opens Thursday.
• "Tell Them Who You Are": Cinematographer Haskell Wexler ("One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest") takes the spotlight in a documentary by his son.
• "Unleashed": A deadly man (Jet Li) raised by mobsters battles to protect his newfound "family" from ruthless old associates. With Morgan Freeman and Bob Hoskins. Opens today.

June

• "The Adventures of Shark Boy & Lava Girl": A boy's superhero pals come to life in the latest three-dimensional foray by director Robert Rodriguez ("Spy Kids").
• "Apres Vous": A Paris waiter (Daniel Auteuil) tries to reunite a distraught man (Jose Garcia) with his ex-girlfriend, only to fall for her himself. This film made its Honolulu debut at the recent Hawaii International Film Festival Spring Showcase.
• "Batman Begins": Young rich guy Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) puts on the bat suit in this tale of the crimefighter's early days.
• "Bewitched": A real witch (Nicole Kidman) is cast opposite a prima-donna actor (Will Ferrell) for an update of the 1970s sit-com. With Michael Caine and Shirley MacLaine.
• "Cinderella Man": Russell Crowe and Renee Zellweger star in the story of underdog Depression-era boxer Jim Braddock. Ron Howard directs.
• "The Deal": Christian Slater and Selma Blair star in an economic thriller and murder mystery set in a near future when gas prices have hit six bucks a gallon.
• "George Romero's Land of the Dead": Zombie king Romero resurrects fresh corpses in this tale of the cloistered living vs. the walking dead.
• "Heights": Secrets surface and emotions run hot during one night of drama among five New Yorkers. With Glenn Close.
• "Herbie: Fully Loaded": The Love Bug rides again, with Lindsay Lohan steering the little car that could onto the NASCAR circuit.
• "High Tension": Two young women encounter a psychopath during a weekend cramming for college exams at an isolated farmhouse.
• "The Honeymooners": Loudmouth Ralph Kramden (Cedric the Entertainer) returns in an update of Jackie Gleason's 1950s sit-com.
• "Howl's Moving Castle": A curse transforms a teen into an old woman in animation master Hayao Miyazaki's latest. With the voices of Emily Mortimer and Billy Crystal.
• "The Last Mogul": The documentary chronicles the life of late, great MCA-Universal boss Lew Wasserman, last of the almighty Hollywood honchos.
• "Lords of Dogtown": Surfer teens in the 1970s revolutionize skateboarding and become superstars with their extreme style. With Heath Ledger.
• "Mr. and Mrs. Smith": Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie take aim at each other as married assassins working for rival factions.
• "My Summer of Love": A cheerless young woman (Natalie Press) finds a temporary soul mate in a spoiled heiress (Emily Blunt).
• "The Perfect Man": Hilary Duff creates an ideal — but fictitious — suitor for her date-challenged mom (Heather Locklear). With Chris Noth.
• "Rize": The creation of the South-Central Los Angeles dance style called krumping is examined in this documentary.
• "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants": Four friends bond by sharing a pair of thrift-store jeans. With Amber Tamblyn and Alexis Bledel.
• "War of the Worlds": Steven Spielberg updates H.G. Wells' classic about space invaders out to evict humanity. Tom Cruise, Tim Robbins and Dakota Fanning star.
• "Yes": A scientist (Joan Allen) steps out on her hubby (Sam Neill) with an exiled Lebanese doctor (Simon Abkarian). Sally Potter directs.

Jessica Alba is the Invisible Woman, part of the Fantastic Four superhero team fighting Doctor Doom in July's comic-book adaptation. 20th Century Fox

Diane Lane plays a divorcee in the romantic comedy "Must Love Dogs," which will arrive in theaters in July. Warner Bros. Pictures

Two buddies (Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn) troll for women at weddings in "Wedding Crashers," opening in July. New Line Cinema

Meet the fairy-tale world of the famous Brothers Grimm (Heath Ledger and Matt Damon), hitting the multiplex in July. Dimension Films

• "The Bad News Bears": An ex-minor leaguer (Billy Bob Thornton) coaches a misfit Little League team in a remake of the baseball comedy.
• "The Beautiful Country": A Vietnamese man encounters a beautiful travel companion during a harrowing voyage to find his American father. With Nick Nolte.
• "Brothers Grimm": The fairy-tale siblings (Matt Damon and Heath Ledger) are caught in the fray when they learn their wild stories are true. Terry Gilliam directs.
• "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory": Johnny Depp is eccentric candyman Willy Wonka in this remake. Tim Burton directs.
• "Dark Water": A single mom (Jennifer Connelly) fights to solve the watery mystery surrounding her creepy new apartment.
• "The Devil's Rejects": Rob Zombie's "House of 1000 Corpses" follow-up pits a vengeful sheriff against a bloodthirsty family.
• "Fantastic Four": The comic-book adaptation sets mutated astronauts (Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, Michael Chiklis) against evil Doctor Doom (Julian McMahon).
• "Happy Endings": Friends and lovers scheme, blackmail and find a few happy endings. With Lisa Kudrow, Laura Dern, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Tom Arnold.
• "Hustle & Flow": A small-time pimp and drug dealer (Terrence Howard) sets his sights on a rap career. With Anthony Anderson.
• "The Island": A clone (Ewan McGregor) raised for body parts goes on the lam. Co-starring Scarlett Johansson, directed by Michael Bay.
• "Last Days": Inspired by Kurt Cobain's demise, Gus Van Sant spins a tale of the final moments in the life of a tormented musician (Michael Pitt).
• "Must Love Dogs": A divorcee (Diane Lane) takes stumbling steps back into romance. With John Cusack and Stockard Channing.
• "Night Watch": A Russian sci-fi thriller centers on an ancient prophecy of good against evil played out in modern Moscow.
• "9 Songs": Sex and music rule in Michael Winterbottom's tale of a couple's torrid affair set against a series of concerts they attend.
• "November": A photographer (Courteney Cox Arquette) is haunted by visions and fractured memories of the night her boyfriend (James LeGros) was murdered.
• "Rebound": A frenzied college coach (Martin Lawrence) is sent to the bush leagues to run a junior-high basketball team.
• "Saraband": Ingmar Bergman reteams with his "Scenes From a Marriage" stars Liv Ullman and Erland Josephson for the couple's after-30-years reunion drama.
• "Sky High": Lacking special powers, the son of the world's top superheroes (Kurt Russell and Kelly Preston) copes with freshman year as a sidekick.
• "Stealth": Fighter pilots (Josh Lucas, Jessica Biel and Jamie Foxx) take on a super-smart drone plane that's gone rogue.
• "Undead": A cosmic infection carried by meteorites creates a plague of walking dead hungry for human flesh.
• "The Warrior": A strongman for a warlord in India is targeted by old cronies after he renounces violence.
• "Wedding Crashers": Buddies (Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn) cruise weddings for women. With Christopher Walken and Rachel McAdams.

August-Early September

• "The Aristocrats": Funny guys Paul Provenza and Penn Jillette gather 100 comedians to tell the same classic dirty joke.
• "Asylum": A psychiatrist's wife (Natasha Richardson) takes up with a seductive inmate (Martin Csokas). With Ian McKellen.
• "Backwater": Teens battle evil in the Louisiana swamps. With Agnes Bruckner, Method Man and Bijou Phillips.
• "The Baxter": Writer-director Michael Showalter stars as a loser at love maneuvering through mayhem in the weeks before his wedding. Michelle Williams co-stars.
• "Broken Flowers": A bachelor (Bill Murray) revisits old flames after learning he has a son. With Jessica Lange and Sharon Stone. Jim Jarmusch directs.
• "The Cave": A spelunking team runs into terrifying creatures during an underground expedition in Romania.
• "The Chumscrubber": A teenager (Jamie Bell) stoically copes with the suicide of his only friend, a peddler of illegal drugs.
• "Cry Wolf: An online hoax about a serial killer at a high school turns frighteningly true for a group of teens. With Jon Bon Jovi.
• "Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo": Male prostitute Deuce (Rob Schneider) services European clients and tries to clear his ex-pimp in a series of gigolo murders.
• "Domino": Keira Knightley stars in a tale based on the life of actor Laurence Harvey's daughter, who gave up modeling to be a bounty hunter. Tony Scott directs.
• "The Dukes of Hazzard": The General Lee is back as the Duke boys (Johnny Knoxville and Seann William Scott) battle Boss Hogg (Burt Reynolds). With Jessica Simpson.
• "Everything is Illuminated": A man seeks the woman who saved his grandfather in the Ukraine during World War II. Elijah Wood stars, Liev Schreiber directs.
• "The 40-Year-Old Virgin": Sympathetic pals of a middle-aged celibate (Steve Carell) try to hook him up with a single mom (Catherine Keener).
• "Four Brothers": John Singleton directs the story of siblings seeking revenge over their mother's death. With Mark Wahlberg and Tyrese Gibson.
• "The Great Raid": U.S. Rangers try to free POWs in the Philippines during World War II. With Benjamin Bratt and James Franco.
• "The Pink Panther": Steve Martin is the bumbling Inspector Clouseau in this update of Peter Sellers' crime-comedy franchise. With Kevin Kline and Beyoncé Knowles.
• "Pretty Persuasion": A precocious teenager (Evan Rachel Wood) causes bedlam at her exclusive school by accusing her English teacher of sexual harassment.
• "Red Eye": A woman (Rachel McAdams) encounters serious cabin pressure when she's hurled into an assassination plot during a jet flight. Wes Craven directs.
• "Secuestro Express": A night on the town turns to terror for a couple abducted and held for ransom in Venezuela. With Ruben Blades.
• "The Skeleton Key": A live-in nurse (Kate Hudson) finds spooky doings in a rambling mansion. Gena Rowlands, John Hurt and Peter Sarsgaard co-star.
• "2046": Wong Kar-Wai spins a cryptic musing on past, present and future. With Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung, Gong Li and Zhang Ziyi.
• "Undiscovered": Wannabe actresses (Ashlee Simpson and Pell James) build hype to launch a musician's career.
• Untitled Mike Judge project: A suspended-animation subject (Luke Wilson) wakes after 500 years to find the world's gone dumb and he's the smartest man alive.
• "Valiant": A pint-sized pigeon leads a feathery fighter squad against enemy falcons in World War II. Voice cast includes Ewan McGregor and John Cleese.