Country stars, Gromit and Kong lead Hollywood's fall roster

LOS ANGELES - Hollywood's long, dreary summer finally is over. Now it's on to the good stuff.

And it better be good, if film studios hope to salvage what's shaping up as the worst year for movie attendance since the late 1990s.

After a summer season that left audiences generally uninterested, the fall and holiday lineup offers the promise of fresh films with an exotic cast of characters that includes country music legends, a great ape, teen wizards and a Japanese geisha.

The long-awaited adaptation of the best seller "Memoirs of a Geisha," director Rob Marshall's follow-up to "Chicago," stars Ziyi Zhang as a poor Japanese girl who becomes a geisha goddess.

Many people define "geisha" as a high-end prostitute, but Zhang discovered a rich artistic and social fabric behind the geisha culture.

"From my opinion, 'geisha' means a woman skilled in the arts. Like dancing, singing and playing musical instruments," said Zhang, making her first English-language movie after such Chinese martial-arts hits as "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "Hero."

"They are also skilled in the art of conversation," said Zhang, who underwent two months of geisha "boot camp" to learn complicated dances, the proper way to wear kimonos and the art of pouring tea.

Other big films include Steven Spielberg's "Munich," a thriller about the slayings of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics; "All the King's Men," starring Sean Penn as the Southern political boss of Robert Penn Warren's classic novel; "Jarhead," a Gulf War tale with Jake Gyllenhaal and Jamie Foxx; "Tim Burton's Corpse Bride," an animated yarn featuring the voices of Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter; "The New World," Terrence Malick's epic set in colonial America with Colin Farrell; and "Elizabethtown," Cameron Crowe's romance starring Kirsten Dunst and Orlando Bloom.

Also, "The Weather Man," with Nicolas Cage as a TV forecaster who has a stormy personal life; "Get Rich or Die Tryin'," starring 50 Cent as a street hood aiming for a rap-music career; "Oliver Twist," Roman Polanski's fresh take on the Charles Dickens orphan-boy classic, featuring Ben Kingsley; the animated "Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit," the big-screen debut of TV's cheese-loving Brit and his faithful dog; and "In Her Shoes," a sister-act tale from director Curtis Hanson ("Wonder Boys," "L.A. Confidential").

"In Her Shoes" follows two sisters, one a knockout (Cameron Diaz) who has leeched all her life off her workaholic sibling (Toni Collette), and the grandma (Shirley MacLaine) who helps them reconnect after a bitter estrangement.

"My character, she's kind of gotten away with her looks, gotten away with her ability to charm people and find her way without having to work," Diaz said. "And she's kind of coming to the end of that rope, as well as having nothing to fall back on, having bitten the hand that's always fed her."

Science-fiction and fantasy are shaping up as some of the season's biggest attractions, led by "The Lord of the Rings" mastermind Peter Jackson's new take on "King Kong," starring Naomi Watts as the beauty who steals the heart of the gigantic primate.

The fourth "Harry Potter" tale casts the young hero (Daniel Radcliffe) into an international wizardry competition that leads him to another showdown with dark sorcerer Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes).

The British fantasy franchise gets its first English director in Mike Newell ("Four Weddings and a Funeral"). For all the magical trappings of "Harry Potter," Newell enjoyed injecting a sense of his own classroom days into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"Aside from everything else, these are school stories," Newell said. "In a middle-of-the-road English education, the teachers are embattled, the school is a very kind of anarchic place and a very funny place, as well. Where two sets of people - one of which is becoming adults and one of which is trying to avoid going back to becoming children - clash.

"The anarchy of youth, it is really rich stuff. I loved that. I loved doing the school side of it."

Hollywood's current love affair for fantasy continues with "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," adapted from C.S. Lewis' "Chronicles of Narnia" series.

The film, whose cast includes Tilda Swinton and Jim Broadbent, follows the adventures of four English children in World War II who battle an evil witch enslaving a magical land of giants, talking animals and centaurs.

"Narnia" director Andrew Adamson (the "Shrek" movies) figures the recent surge in fantastical stories has something to do with the real-world stories audiences see all the time on TV and on the big screen.

"There has been an awfully lot of reality programming in the last 10 years and natural-disaster movies. I do think there's somewhat of a backlash," Adamson said. "People do want to be taken to new worlds. They're kind of tired of this one and want to go somewhere where they can let their imagination run free a little bit."

Fall's fantasyscape also includes the video-game adaptation "Doom," starring The Rock as part of a commando force taking on creatures from another realm on Mars; and "Serenity," a sci-fi adventure whose behind-the-scenes story is a drama unto itself.

After scoring with the TV version of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," Joss Whedon created a smart, funny show called "Firefly," about misfits living on the edge of the law aboard the rickety space ship Serenity 500 years in the future.

"Firefly" lasted only 14 episodes but its cult audience kept interest alive. Now Whedon has directed the big-screen continuation "Serenity," reuniting the "Firefly" cast.

"I took the overreaching arc I was headed toward in the TV show and made that the plot of the movie," Whedon said. "I had to jettison or streamline plenty of things. It's two totally different mediums, and you've got to respect that. A TV show can kind of meander its way along and find a little piece of something for everybody. A movie is more about the momentum of the main story."

Sarah Jessica Parker also returns to the big screen in "The Family Stone." After her TV series "Sex and the City," Parker is on familiar turf as a Manhattan woman in love, though her character is the flipside of Carrie Bradshaw. Parker plays a career woman who makes a terrible impression on her fiance's relatives when meeting them for the first time.

Unlike loose and lively Carrie, Parker's character is a tightly wound woman who "is really at a loss to navigate basic interactions that so many of us feel confident about," the actress said. "So many people feel fairly comfortable around new people. They can figure out a room or say something inappropriate then navigate back from it. She doesn't have those skills."

Also trying something different are Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon as Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash in director James Mangold's "Walk the Line," a portrait of the early years of the country star who died in 2003.

"I'm not a singer by any means," said Phoenix, who did his own singing (as did Witherspoon). "If it was a fictional character where it was a made-up voice, it might have been harder. But I had a specific voice to go after, so I had to work specific muscles and really work at hitting certain notes. It was nice to have a recognizable voice as a goal."

Also on the musical front: "Rent," director Chris Columbus' follow-up after making the first two "Harry Potter" flicks; and "The Producers," Susan Stroman's adaptation of Mel Brooks' Broadway show that won a record 12 Tonys. Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick reprise their roles.

Charlize Theron and Keira Knightley each have two wildly different films coming. Both actresses step into full action mode, Theron with "Aeon Flux," adapted from the animated sci-fi TV show, Knightley with "Domino," a casino-heist caper inspired by the real-life story of actor Laurence Harvey's daughter, who quit her modeling career to become a bounty hunter.

"It's one of those things you hear about and think, 'God, this is an absolutely insane story. It's so crazy it has to be true,'" said Knightley, noting that while Domino Harvey's career switch is true, the casino heist is make-believe. "She's an amazing woman to turn her back on everything that certainly we in today's society would think she could want."

Knightley also HEAD:s the 18th century period piece "Pride & Prejudice," a new adaptation of Jane Austen's classic about love, marriage and Britain's rigid social-class structure.

Theron also stars in "North Country," a drama about a single mother who takes groundbreaking legal action over sexual harassment by co-workers at a Minnesota mining company in 1989.

"If you were a single mom, there's no way to support yourself and your kids by working in a hair salon," Theron said. "It's about a woman who decides to go and do what was considered a man's job, but was treated quite horribly for it and decides she has to fight for her rights when everyone thinks she should just shut up and take it."

Steve Martin also has a twofer season with "Cheaper By the Dozen 2," reprising his role from the 2003 family hit as patriarch of a family of 12 kids, and "Shopgirl," adapted from his short novel.

"Shopgirl" stars Claire Danes as a Saks clerk wooed by a rich older man (Martin) and a younger guy (Jason Schwartzman). The story originated with Martin's long-held interest in how people go about looking for love.

"There was a time in my life when I was very interested in relationship psychology," Martin said. "Relationships end, but they don't end your life. But people do often spending more time finding out about failed relationships than finding successful ones."

Though he had not envisioned any movie prospects when he wrote the book, Martin said once he had adapted it into a screenplay, he felt should go ahead and act in the film, as well.

"I would have felt a little funny if another actor was playing this role," Martin said.

Highlights of Hollywood's film lineup for fall

LOS ANGELES - Highlights of the fall film slate. Release dates are subject to change, and some films will play in limited release.

September:

THE BAXTER: A loser in love (writer-director Michael Showalter) bumbles through the twists and turns of romance.

CRY WOLF: Teens spreading online rumors about a serial killer find the story coming true when classmates begin turning up dead.

THE CHUMSCRUBBER: A teen (Jamie Bell) stoically copes with the suicide of his best friend, a drug peddler. With Glenn Close and Ralph Fiennes.

DALTRY CALHOUN: A teen musical prodigy suddenly re-enters the life of her estranged dad, a golf-club magnate (Johnny Knoxville).

DEAR WENDY: A pacifist youth (Jamie Bell) is unaccountably smitten with a vintage handgun he finds. Bill Pullman co-stars.

EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED: A man seeks to find a Ukranian woman who saved his grandfather during the Holocaust. Elijah Wood stars, actor Liev Schreiber directs.

THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE: A lawyer (Laura Linney) defends a priest (Tom Wilkinson) accused in the death of a girl who underwent an exorcism.

FLIGHTPLAN: A widow (Jodie Foster) insists her 6-year-old daughter vanished on a trans-Atlantic flight - all evidence to the contrary.

GOING SHOPPING: Director Henry Jaglom ("Eating") has a go at consumer addiction in this domestic tale starring Victoria Foyt, Lee Grant and Rob Morrow.

THE GREATEST GAME EVER PLAYED: A young amateur (Shia LaBeouf) shocks the golfing world in an upset of the British champ in 1913. Actor Bill Paxton directs.

GREEN STREET HOOLIGANS: An expelled Harvard student (Elijah Wood) moves to London, where he's caught up in the menacing madness of soccer.

A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE: Mobsters muscle in on a small-town diner owner (Viggo Mortensen) after his act of heroism. With Ed Harris, Maria Bello and William Hurt.

INTO THE BLUE: Divers hunting for treasure on a sunken ship find danger instead. With Jessica Alba and Paul Walker.

JUST LIKE HEAVEN: A man encounters romance from beyond when a ghostly woman (Reese Witherspoon) keeps appearing in his apartment. Mark Ruffalo co-stars.

LITTLE MANHATTAN: A Woody Allen-style romance centers on the joys and pangs of first love for two 11-year-olds. With Cynthia Nixon and Bradley Whitford.

LORD OF WAR: An arms dealer (Nicolas Cage) faces a crisis of conscience as he's pursued by an Interpol agent (Ethan Hawke).

THE MAN: A fed (Samuel L. Jackson) teams with a dental-supply guy (Eugene Levy) to solve an agent's murder in this buddy comedy.

MIRRORMASK: The Jim Henson Co. works its visual magic in a tale of a teenage girl whisked to a fantasy land controlled by a scheming queen.

OLIVER TWIST: Roman Polanski updates Dickens' tale of an orphan's misadventures among rascals and pickpockets. Ben Kingsley plays the sinister Fagin.

ONE BRIGHT SHINING MOMENT: THE FORGOTTEN SUMMER OF GEORGE MCGOVERN: A documentary chronicling the Democrat's failed 1972 presidential bid against Richard Nixon.

THE OUTSIDERS: THE COMPLETE NOVEL: Francis Ford Coppola expands his 1983 coming-of-age drama with an extra 22 minutes of footage.

THE PRIZE WINNER OF DEFIANCE, OHIO: A mother of 10 (Julianne Moore) helps pay the bills by entering 1950s musical jingle contests. Woody Harrelson co-stars.

PROOF: After her brilliant dad's death, a woman (Gwyneth Paltrow) worries she's inherited his madness. With Anthony Hopkins, Jake Gyllenhaal and Hope Davis.

ROLL BOUNCE: Bow Wow stars as an underdog skater competing in a showdown at a glitzy roller rink.

SEPARATE LIES: The lives of a married couple (Emily Watson and Tom Wilkinson) are turned upside-down by the arrival of another man (Rupert Everett).

SERENITY: Joss Whedon resurrects his failed TV show "Firefly" with this sci-fi tale of a vagabond spaceship carrying two mysterious passengers.

SUENO: A Mexican singer (John Leguizamo) lands in a love triangle and a Latino music competition in Los Angeles. With Elizabeth Pena.

A SOUND OF THUNDER: Time-traveling dinosaur hunters disrupt the course of history. Based on Ray Bradbury's story. With Edward Burns and Ben Kingsley.

THUMBSUCKER: A 17-year-old (Justin Pucci) still has a penchant for sucking his thumb. With Keanu Reeves, Vincent D'Onofrio, Tilda Swinton and Benjamin Bratt.

TIM BURTON'S CORPSE BRIDE: A man is sucked into the underworld to wed a dead chick. The animated flick features the voices of Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter.

TRANSPORTER 2: The ultra-able deliveryman (Jason Statham) comes out of retirement to pursue kidnappers.

UNDERCLASSMAN: An L.A. cop (Nick Cannon) goes undercover to investigate a murder at an upper-class private school.

AN UNFINISHED LIFE: A reclusive rancher (Robert Redford) is reunited with his estranged daughter-in-law (Jennifer Lopez). Morgan Freeman co-stars.

VENOM: Teenagers battle voodoo horror in the swamps of Louisiana. With Agnes Bruckner, Method Man and Bijou Phillips.

THE WAR WITHIN: Wrongly interrogated as a terrorism suspect, a Pakistani student seeks revenge and joins a terrorist cell in New York City.

October:

DOMINO: Keira Knightley plays the bounty-hunting daughter of actor Laurence Harvey in an action thriller directed by Tony Scott.

DOOM: The Rock leads a team of futuristic Marines against deadly creatures on Mars in this adaptation of the video game.

DREAMER: A fired equestrian trainer (Kurt Russell) and his daughter (Dakota Fanning) nurse an injured racehorse back to health.

ELIZABETHTOWN: Romance is in the air during a Southern patriarch's funeral. Kirsten Dunst and Orlando Bloom star, Cameron Crowe directs.

THE FOG: Vengeful ghosts from a shipwreck terrorize a town in this remake of the 1980 horror tale. With Tom Welling and Selma Blair.

GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK: George Clooney directs and co-stars in the story of newsman Edward R. Murrow (David Strathairn) as he battles the communist witch hunt.

THE GOSPEL: An R&B star (Boris Kodjoe) tries to reconcile with his ailing father, the bishop of their hometown church. Nona Gaye co-stars.

IN HER SHOES: Estranged sisters (Cameron Diaz and Toni Collette) reconnect with help from a mystery grandma (Shirley MacLaine). Curtis Hanson directs.

INNOCENT VOICES: An 11-year-old boy in 1980s El Salvador balances childhood and adult issues as he faces automatic army conscription on his 12th birthday.

KISS KISS, BANG BANG: Robbery gone awry gives a thief (Robert Downey Jr.) a movie audition and a lesson in sleuthing with a detective (Val Kilmer).

THE LEGEND OF ZORRO: The masked swordsman (Antonio Banderas) and his wife (Catherine Zeta-Jones) are back in action in this swashbuckling sequel.

LOGGERHEADS: Interlocking stories trace the melancholy history of a boy's adoption. With Bonnie Hunt, Tess Harper and Kip Pardue.

NINE LIVES: Crises of nine disparate women are examined. With Holly Hunter, Glenn Close, Sissy Spacek and Robin Wright Penn.

NORTH COUNTRY: A single mother (Charlize Theron) leads a sexual-harassment crusade on behalf of female co-workers at a mining company.

PARADISE NOW: Palestinian best friends face crisis when they are tapped to carry out a suicide attack in Tel Aviv.

PRIME: A thirty-something divorcee (Uma Thurman) takes up with a young painter. Meryl Streep co-stars.

PROTOCOLS OF ZION: Documentary filmmaker Marc Levin examines a backlash of anti-Semitism that followed the Sept. 11 attacks.

SAW II: A cop (Donnie Wahlberg) discovers that a maniacal serial killer is back in business in the follow-up to last year's horror hit.

SHOPGIRL: A Saks clerk (Claire Danes) is wooed by an older man (Steve Martin) and a younger suitor (Jason Schwartzman). Based on Martin's novella.

THE SQUID AND THE WHALE: Marriage and parenthood are on the rocks between two Brooklyn writers (Jeff Daniels and Laura Linney).

STAY: A psychiatrist races to prevent a patient from making good on a threat to commit suicide. With Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts.

TWO FOR THE MONEY: Al Pacino, Rene Russo and Matthew McConaughey star in the tale of an ex-athlete who enters the high-rolling sports gambling world.

WALLACE & GROMIT: THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT: Britain's favorite cheese-lover and his loyal dog square off against a monster bunny in this clay-animated comedy.

THE WEATHER MAN: A local weather guy (Nicolas Cage) wins a national TV audition but faces storm clouds in his personal life. Michael Caine co-stars.

WHERE THE TRUTH LIES: A reporter (Alison Lohman) probes the dark secrets behind the breakup of a musical-comedy duo (Kevin Bacon and Colin Firth). Atom Egoyan directs.

November:

BEE SEASON: An overlooked daughter is thrown into the limelight when she becomes a spelling champ. With Richard Gere and Juliette Binoche.

BREAKFAST ON PLUTO: A cross-dressing Irish misfit (Cillian Murphy) hunts for the mother who abandoned him as a baby. Neil Jordan directs, Liam Neeson co-stars.

CHICKEN LITTLE: The sky is really, really falling in an animated tale of the chick who cried wolf. Zach Braff heads the voice cast.

DERAILED: Business execs having an affair (Jennifer Aniston and Clive Owen) square off against a blackmailer.

DYING FOR DOLLY: A club DJ (Usher) falls for the daughter of the crime boss (Chazz Palminteri) whose life he saved.

THE DYING GAUL: A writer (Peter Sarsgaard) lands in a bizarre triangle with a studio exec (Campbell Scott) and his wife (Patricia Clarkson).

ELLIE PARKER: A wannabe actress (Naomi Watts) gallops through auditions and disappointments in Hollywood. With Chevy Chase.

THE FAMILY STONE: A Manhattan career woman (Sarah Jessica Parker) gets a cold reception from his fiance's family. With Diane Keaton, Luke Wilson.

GET RICH OR DIE TRYIN': Rapper 50 Cent stars as a street punk who abandons drug dealing for music. Jim Sheridan directs.

HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE: A sorcery competition puts wiz kid Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) in the clutches of dark lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes).

THE ICE HARVEST: Yuletide turns dicey for an embezzler (John Cusack) stuck in Wichita on Christmas Eve. Billy Bob Thornton co-stars, Harold Ramis directs.

I LOVE YOUR WORK: A movie star (Giovanni Ribisi) struggles with the frenzy of celebrity. Actor Adam Goldberg directs.

JARHEAD: A third-generation Marine (Jake Gyllenhaal) joins a sniper platoon in the Gulf War. Jamie Foxx co-stars, Sam Mendes directs.

JUST FRIENDS: A music-business hotshot (Ryan Reynolds) is reunited with his old high school dream girl. With Anna Faris and Amy Smart.

THE MATADOR: A hit man (Pierce Brosnan) and a traveling salesman (Greg Kinnear) pal around after meeting at a Mexican bar.

THE NEW WORLD: Cultures collide in director Terrence Malick's drama of colonial days starring Colin Farrell as John Smith and Q'orianka Kilcher as Pocahantas.

NEW YORK DOLL: After alcoholism and a broken marriage, bassist Arthur Kane is reunited with his old band - '70s punk pioneers the New York Dolls.

PRIDE & PREJUDICE: Keira Knightley stars in Jane Austen's classic of love and class warfare in 18th century Britain. With Donald Sutherland and Brenda Blethyn.

PULSE: Kiyoshi Kurosawa's 2001 Japanese horror tale, about ghostly apparitions terrorizing Tokyo, gets a belated U.S. release.

RENT: Addicts, transsexuals and other Manhattanites cope with poverty and AIDS in director Chris Columbus' adaptation of the stage musical. With Rosario Dawson and Taye Diggs.

SARAH SILVERMAN: JESUS IS MAGIC: AIDS, Sept. 11 and the Holocaust are grist for the standup comic in this adaptation of her stage show.

SYRIANA: George Clooney's an ex-CIA guy and Matt Damon's an oil exec in this political thriller with a "Traffic"-like ensemble cast.

TRISTRAM SHANDY: A [filtered word] AND BULL STORY: Filmmaker Michael Winterbottom adapts Laurence Sterne's classic comic novel. Steve Coogan stars.

WALK THE LINE: Joaquin Phoenix plays the man in black, Johnny Cash, in the story of the country legend's early years. With Reese Witherspoon.

THE WHITE COUNTESS: Ralph Fiennes stars in a tale of decadence and redemption in 1930s Shanghai. From director James Ivory and his late producing partner Ismail Merchant.

WOLF CREEK: Three stranded backpackers encounter terror at the hands of a local on a trip in the Australian Outback.

YOURS, MINE AND OURS: Single parents (Dennis Quaid and Rene Russo) with 18 children between them plan to marry in this remake of the Henry Fonda-Lucille Ball comedy.

ZATHURA: Two young brothers discover a game that transports them into an interstellar adventure. Actor Jon Favreau directs.

December:

AEON FLUX: Charlize Theron battles an evil government 400 years in the future in the adaptation of the animated sci-fi series.

ALL THE KING'S MEN: Robert Penn Warren's novel is updated with Sean Penn as the Southern political boss loosely modeled on Huey Long.

BE HERE TO LOVE ME: A FILM ABOUT TOWNES VAN ZANDT: This documentary portrait of the late singer-songwriter features Willie Nelson, Lyle Lovett and Steve Earle.

BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN: Cowboy lovers (Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal) maintain their secret bond through marriage and fatherhood. Ang Lee directs.

CASANOVA: The legendary womanizer (Heath Ledger) chases the one woman (Sienna Miller) who has rejected him. Lasse Hallstrom directs.

CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN 2: Dad and mom (Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt) take a vacation with their 12 kids. Hilary Duff and Eugene Levy co-star.

THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE: Four siblings fight a wicked witch in the adaptation of C.S. Lewis' fantasy classic. Andrew Adamson ("Shrek") directs.

FREEDOMLAND: Samuel L. Jackson and Julianne Moore star in a crime thriller centering on a carjacking and a missing child.

FUN WITH DICK AND JANE: A couple (Jim Carrey and Tea Leoni) turns to thievery after hard times strike in this remake of the 1970s romp.

HARD CANDY: A thirty-something fashion photographer gets more than he bargained for when he hooks up with a teenage woman on the Internet.

HIDDEN: A couple (Juliette Binoche and Daniel Auteuil) are harassed by a video stalker sending disturbing tapes of their domestic life.

THE KID & I: A washed-up actor (Tom Arnold) learns his comeback project isn't what it seemed. Arnold Schwarzenegger makes a cameo appearance.

KING KONG: A small-town ape goes to the big city and makes a spectacle of himself in Peter Jackson's update of the 1930s classic. With Naomi Watts, Jack Black and Adrien Brody.

THE LIBERTINE: Johnny Depp lives out the wanton life of the scandalous 17th century Earl of Rochester. With John Malkovich and Samantha Morton.

MATCH POINT: Woody Allen spins a drama of an Irish tennis pro (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) whose cozy life is jeopardized by a fling with an actress (Scarlett Johansson).

MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA: A poor Japanese girl (Ziyi Zhang) rises to the top of the geisha profession in an adaptation of the best-selling novel.

MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTS: A society dame (Judi Dench) starts a nude revue in prewar London. With Bob Hoskins.

MUNICH: Steven Spielberg directs a thriller about agents pursuing Palestinians suspected of plotting the deaths of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics.

THE PRODUCERS: Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick reprise their stage roles in the new movie version of Mel Brooks' musical comedy of theater con men.

THE RINGER: A slimeball (Johnny Knoxville) finds unlikely allies when he masquerades among mentally disabled to compete in the Special Olympics.

RUMOR HAS IT: An obituary writer (Jennifer Aniston) learns her family may have inspired the film and book "The Graduate." Kevin Costner co-stars, Rob Reiner directs.

TRANSAMERICA: A transsexual woman and a teen runaway take a cross-country road trip. With Felicity Huffman.