Reunions, Return Of The Western Mark Fall Movie Slate

Hollywood is leaving Harry Potter, Spider-Man and Shrek behind, and looking forward to a fall of cinematic reunions and the return of the Western.

Russell Crowe and Christian Bale star in the remake 3:10 to Yuma (pictured), about a rancher (Bale) who agrees to escort a captured gang leader (Crowe) in order to earn some much-needed coin, while Brad Pitt brings his filmed-in-Canada tale The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford to the screen.

Pitt says his own celebrity status helped him capture the role of James.

“I liked the themes of fame, the obsession with fame. The idea of the Jesse James character being trapped behind a facade and not knowing how to get out,” said Pitt, who plays James in his last year as he worries about betrayals by those around him including Ford (Casey Affleck).

“We operate under the assumption everyone is pretty much up on the Jesse James myth, so we start dissecting the myth,” Pitt said.

Meanwhile it’s also the season of the movie reunion, with Russell Crowe teaming with his Gladiator director Ridley Scott on American Gangster, Cate Blanchett and director Shekhar Kapur making the Elizabeth sequel The Golden Age, Ben Stiller and There’s Something About Mary creators the Farrelly brothers making The Heartbreak Kidd, and Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter and Tim Burton getting together on Sweeney Todd.

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Highlights of the fall film slate (release dates are subject to change, and some films will play in limited release):

Late August-September:

ACROSS THE UNIVERSE: Beatles tunes are the backdrop for a musical romance between young lovers (Evan Rachel Wood and Jim Sturgess). Julie Taymor directs.

THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD: Brad Pitt is the Old West outlaw, with Casey Affleck as the man who’ll eventually gun him down.

BALLS OF FURY: The world of extreme ping pong is the setting for an action comedy featuring Christopher Walken and George Lopez.

THE BRAVE ONE: A woman (Jodie Foster) goes on a vigilante rampage after her boyfriend is killed in an attack. Neil Jordan directs, Terrence Howard co-stars.

THE BROTHERS SOLOMON: Socially bumbling siblings (Will Arnett and Will Forte) try to fulfill their dying father’s wish to have a grandchild.

THE DARJEELING LIMITED: Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody and Jason Schwartzman star as brothers stranded on a spiritual journey across India.

DECEMBER BOYS: Daniel Radcliffe sets aside his Harry Potter persona in a drama of four orphaned teens on a summer seaside trip in 1960s Australia.

EASTERN PROMISES: A Russian mob driver (Viggo Mortensen) meets a midwife (Naomi Watts) seeking the truth about an orphaned newborn. David Cronenberg directs.

FEAST OF LOVE: Morgan Freeman, Greg Kinnear and Radha Mitchell lead the cast in director Robert Benton’s ensemble romance.

FIERCE PEOPLE: A drug addict (Diane Lane) tries to repair life with her teenage son. With Donald Sutherland.

THE GAME PLAN: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson plays a football quarterback suddenly forced to care for a young daughter he never knew he had.

GOOD LUCK CHUCK: A cursed dentist (Dane Cook) learns that women find true love with the next man they date after him. Jessica Alba co-stars.

GREAT WORLD OF SOUND: Two talent scouts for a small record label gradually learn it’s a con game preying on singers’ dreams of stardom.

HALLOWEEN: Rob Zombie retells the story of John Carpenter’s serial killer Michael Myers. With Malcolm McDowell.

THE HUNTING PARTY: A ruined TV journalist (Richard Gere) leads a former colleague (Terrence Howard) on the trail of a Bosnian war criminal.

IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON: Apollo astronauts share recollections in a documentary about the NASA moon landings.

IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH: Parents seek their missing son, who has just come home from Iraq. With Tommy Lee Jones, Susan Sarandon and Charlize Theron. Paul Haggis directs.

INTO THE WILD: Sean Penn directs a story about a young man (Emile Hirsch) who leaves behind his life for the Alaska wilderness.

IRA & ABBY: A mismatched couple (Jennifer Westfeldt and Chris Messina) takes a stab at romance. With Jason Alexander, Frances Conroy and Fred Willard.

I WANT SOMEONE TO EAT CHEESE WITH: Jeff Garlin directs and stars with Sarah Silverman in a romantic comedy about a comedian still living with his mother.

THE JANE AUSTEN BOOK CLUB: Six modern people’s lives parallel Austen’s classic tales. With Maria Bello, Jimmy Smits and Amy Brenneman.

THE KINGDOM: Jamie Foxx is a fed tracking a friend’s killer in Saudi Arabia. With Jennifer Garner and Chris Cooper.

KING OF CALIFORNIA: A precocious teen (Evan Rachel Wood) aids her loopy dad (Michael Douglas) in a search for buried treasure.

LUST, CAUTION: Director Ang Lee follows “Brokeback Mountain” with a World War II spy thriller set in Shanghai.

MR. WOODCOCK: A man (Seann William Scott) learns his mother (Susan Sarandon) has fallen for his tyrannical high school gym teacher (Billy Bob Thornton).

RESIDENT EVIL: EXTINCTION: Milla Jovovich fights zombies in the third flick based on the video game.

ROMANCE & CIGARETTES: John Turturro directs and co-stars in a working-class musical fantasy. With James Gandolfini, Susan Sarandon and Kate Winslet.

SHOOT ‘EM UP: A loner (Clive Owen) races to protect an infant from a criminal (Paul Giamatti).

SILK: A merchant has a forbidden affair with a woman in 19th century Japan. With Keira Knightley and Michael Pitt.

SYDNEY WHITE: A college freshman (Amanda Bynes) leads a bunch of frat-house dorks in a fight against campus snobs.

3:10 TO YUMA: Russell Crowe and Christian Bale star in a Western about a captured outlaw whose gang aims to free him.

TRADE: A Texas cop (Kevin Kline) joins a Mexican teen to pursue the youth’s sister, who has been abducted by sex traffickers.

October:

BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU’RE DEAD: Brothers (Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke) plot a robbery. With Albert Finney and Marisa Tomei.

THE COMEBACKS: A loser coach who gathers misfits for a college football team.

CONTROL: Sam Riley and Samantha Morton star in the dark story of Joy Division singer Ian Curtis.

DARFUR NOW: Don Cheadle narrates a documentary examining genocide in Sudan.

DAN IN REAL LIFE: A widower (Steve Carell) falls for the girlfriend (Juliette Binoche) of his brother (Dane Cook).

ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE: Cate Blanchett reteams with co-star Geoffrey Rush and director Shekhar Kapur for more in the saga of Queen Elizabeth I.

FEEL THE NOISE: A Harlem rapper (Omarion Grandberry) finds a new beat in Reggaeton, a mix of hip-hop, reggae and Latin sounds.

FINISHING THE GAME: The hunt is on in a comic tale about the search for the new Bruce Lee to complete the martial-arts hero’s unfinished film.

FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO: A documentary examines how the Christian faithful deal with having a gay member in the family.

FUNNY GAMES: Two men take a family hostage in director Michael Haneke’s English-language remake of his 1997 thriller. With Naomi Watts and Tim Roth.

GONE BABY GONE: Ben Affleck directs brother Casey Affleck in the tale of private eyes searching for an abducted girl.

THE GOOD NIGHT: A musician in a failing relationship meets the perfect woman – in his dreams. With Gwyneth Paltrow, Penelope Cruz and Martin Freeman.

GRACE IS GONE: A father (John Cusack) takes his daughters on a road trip to postpone telling them their mother has been killed in Iraq.

THE HEARTBREAK KID: Ben Stiller rejoins the Farrelly brothers in the tale of a new hubby who meets his soul mate on his honeymoon.

HITMAN: Timothy Olyphant stars in a video-game adaptation about a genetically engineered assassin.

LAKE OF FIRE: A documentary examines the history and continuing conflicts of the abortion debate.

LARS AND THE REAL GIRL: A shy man (Ryan Gosling) finally meets the woman of his dreams – a life-size doll.

MARTIAN CHILD: A widowed sci-fi writer (John Cusack) adopts a boy claiming to come from Mars. With Amanda Peet and Joan Cusack.

MICHAEL CLAYTON: George Clooney is an attorney handling dirty work for a corporate firm embroiled in a major class-action suit.

MUSIC WITHIN: A soldier (Ron Livingston) who loses his hearing in Vietnam becomes an activist for the disabled.

RAILS & TIES: Tragedy brings together a train conductor, his ailing wife and an orphaned boy. With Kevin Bacon and Marcia Gay Harden.

RENDITION: A woman (Reese Witherspoon) races to find her Egyptian-born husband after he disappears on a flight to Washington. With Jake Gyllenhaal and Meryl Streep.

RESERVATION ROAD: A grieving father (Joaquin Phoenix) tracks the hit-and-run driver (Mark Ruffalo) who killed his son. With Jennifer Connelly and Mira Sorvino.

RUN, FAT BOY, RUN: A man (Simon Pegg) enters a marathon to help win back the fiance he abandoned. David Schwimmer directs.

THE SEEKER: THE DARK IS RISING: A fantasy tale follows the exploits of a time-traveling warrior battling the forces of darkness.

SAW IV: The horror franchise is resurrected with another tale of killer Jigsaw’s grisly plots.

SLEUTH: Michael Caine remakes his 1972 romp, playing a writer in a contest of mind games with his wife’s lover (Jude Law). Kenneth Branagh directs.

SLIPSTREAM: Anthony Hopkins directs and stars in a surreal tale of a screenwriter whose characters manifest themselves in his real life.

THINGS WE LOST IN THE FIRE: A widow (Halle Berry) finds solace in one of her husband’s friends (Benicio Del Toro). David Duchovny co-stars.

TYLER PERRY’S WHY DID I GET MARRIED: Perry adapts his stage play about infidelity among married friends. Janet Jackson co-stars.

30 DAYS OF NIGHT: An Alaska sheriff (Josh Hartnett) fights vampires who show up to feed during the month-long night.

WEIRDSVILLE: Drug abusers end up on the run from a dealer and a satanic cult. With Wes Bentley, Scott Speedman and Taryn Manning.

WE OWN THE NIGHT: Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Wahlberg and Robert Duvall star in a crime thriller set against New York’s 1980s drug trade.

WRISTCUTTERS: A LOVE STORY: People who’ve killed themselves find hope in an afterlife of dreary jobs. With Patrick Fugit, Shannyn Sossamon and Tom Waits.

November:

AMERICAN GANGSTER: Denzel Washington’s a Harlem drug lord and Russell Crowe’s a cop out to take him down. Ridley Scott directs.

AUGUST RUSH: An orphaned musical prodigy (Freddie Highmore) tries to track down his parents. With Robin Williams.

BEE MOVIE: Jerry Seinfeld co-writes and leads the voice cast in the animated tale of a bee who sues humanity for stealing honey. With Renee Zellweger.

BEOWULF: Angelina Jolie, Anthony Hopkins and Ray Winstone star in the Norse legend of the warrior who battles Grendel and his mother. Robert Zemeckis directs.

CASSANDRA’S DREAM: Woody Allen’s latest features Ewan McGregor and Colin Farrell as brothers at odds in London.

CROSSING OVER: An immigrant drama in Los Angeles features an ensemble including Harrison Ford, Sean Penn and Ashley Judd.

ENCHANTED: A fairy-tale princess (Amy Adams) is banished by a wicked queen (Susan Sarandon) from her magical realm to modern Manhattan.

FLAWLESS: Demi Moore and Michael Caine star in a thriller about a diamond company exec and a janitor who team for a jewel heist.

FRED CLAUS: Vince Vaughn is Santa’s jailbird brother, who’s bailed out by St. Nick (Paul Giamatti) and forced to work off his debt at the North Pole.

I’M NOT THERE: A Bob Dylan portrait features six actors, among them Richard Gere, Cate Blanchett and Heath Ledger, taking on his persona at various stages of his life.

THE KITE RUNNER: Marc Forster (“Finding Neverland”) directs a drama set against turbulence in Afghanistan.

LIONS FOR LAMBS: Robert Redford directs himself, Tom Cruise and Meryl Streep in a drama that plays out against the war on terrorism.

LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA: Lovers wait half a century to reunite in the adaptation of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s novel.

MARGOT AT THE WEDDING: Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jack Black and John Turturro star in a comic drama about family nuptials.

MR. MAGORIUM’S WONDER EMPORIUM: Dustin Hoffman plays the mysterious proprietor of a magic toy shop. With Natalie Portman.

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN: The Coen brothers’ latest stars Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin in a Texas crime drama.

PATHOLOGY: An elite team of medical interns engage in a twisted game to see who can conceive of the perfect murder.

STARTING OUT IN THE EVENING: A reclusive novelist (Frank Langella) lets a young admirer (Lauren Ambrose) into his life. With Lili Taylor.

STEPHEN KING’S THE MIST: Director Frank Darabont’s third King adaptation centers on small-town survivors battling creatures that emerge from a mysterious mist.

THIS CHRISTMAS: Delroy Lindo, Regina King and Mekhi Phifer are among the cast in a family-reunion holiday tale.

THOMAS KINKADE’S THE CHRISTMAS COTTAGE: The work of painter Thomas Kinkade is the basis for the story of a town rallying to save a family’s home.

WAR/DANCE: Three children living amid strife in Uganda find hope at a music and dance festival.
December:

ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: A combination of live action and computer animation bring the cartoon critters to life. With Jason Lee.

ATONEMENT: Lives are shattered after a teen falsely accuses her sister’s lover of a crime. With Keira Knightley and James McAvoy.

ALIENS VS. PREDATOR: REQUIEM: Sci-fi beasties square off again in a sequel to “Alien Vs. Predator.”

THE BUCKET LIST: A billionaire (Jack Nicholson) and a mechanic (Morgan Freeman), both dying, take a road trip. Directed by Rob Reiner.

CHARLIE WILSON’S WAR: Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts and Philip Seymour Hoffman plot American strategy against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Mike Nichols directs.

THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY: A paralyzing stroke leaves the editor (Mathieu Amalric) of French Elle struggling to write a memoir of his affliction.

THE GOLDEN COMPASS: Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig are featured in a fantasy about a girl trying to save her friend in an alternate reality.

THE GREAT DEBATERS: Denzel Washington directs and stars as a coach who forges a champion debate team at a Southern black college. With Forest Whitaker.

HONEYDRIPPER: An Alabama man tries to save his juke joint by hiring a star electric guitar player. Danny Glover stars, John Sayles directs.

I AM LEGEND: The remake of “The Omega Man” stars Will Smith as a human survivor of a plague that has turned people into ravenous night creatures.

JUNO: A pregnant teen (Ellen Page) goes on a quest to find the ideal couple (Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman) to adopt her baby.

LEATHERHEADS: George Clooney directs and stars with Renee Zellweger and John Krasinski in a love triangle set in the world of 1920s football.

NANKING: A documentary chronicles efforts by Westerners to shield the locals from the Japanese invasion of Nanking, China, in World War II.

NATIONAL TREASURE: BOOK OF SECRETS: Nicolas Cage returns as the treasure hunter, out to prove an ancestor’s innocence in Abraham Lincoln’s assassination.

THE ORPHANAGE: A woman’s plan to reopen an orphanage takes dark twists after her son takes up with an “invisible friend” living there.

PERSEPOLIS: An Iranian girl comes of age during the Islamic revolution. With Catherine Deneuve.

P.S. I LOVE YOU: Hilary Swank stars in a drama about a widow whose husband left behind tasks to help her get over her grief.

REDACTED: Tragedy follows amid the persecution of an Iraqi girl and her family by U.S. troops. Brian De Palma directs.

THE SAVAGES: Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney are siblings forced to care for their ailing estranged father.

SWEENEY TODD: Johnny Depp and Helen Bonham Carter star in Tim Burton’s adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim musical about a murderous barber.

THERE WILL BE BLOOD: Daniel Day-Lewis leads the cast in a drama set in the early days of California’s oil boom.

THE WALKER: Woody Harrelson is a Washington socialite who must clear his name of scandal. With Kristin Scott Thomas, Willem Dafoe and Lauren Bacall.

WALK HARD: THE DEWEY COX STORY: John C. Reilly is the king of womanizing, hedonistic rock ‘n rollers.

THE WATER HORSE: LEGEND OF THE DEEP: A boy who finds an enchanted egg is hurtled into a fantastical adventure. With Emily Watson.

YOUTH WITHOUT YOUTH: Francis Ford Coppola directs Tim Roth as a professor-turned-fugitive as World War II approaches.