If you're looking for an overall theme among upcoming films, keep looking. If it was a summer of superheroes, it's a fall and winter of just highly anticipated movies. Here's the schedule of releases. As always, dates are subject to change.

Sept. 5

"Bangkok Dangerous" (R): Nicolas Cage stars as a hit man in Bangkok in this remake of a Thai film. They can't take someone's Oscar away, can they?

Sept. 12

"Burn After Reading" (R): The Coen brothers' first film after the Oscar-winning "No Country for Old Men" stars Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton and John Malkovich as ..... wait, with a cast like that, does it matter?

"Righteous Kill" (R): Robert De Niro and Al Pacino team up in what could have been the greatest movie of 1978 -- a couple of cops wondering if they arrested the wrong man years ago.

Tyler Perry's "The Family That Preys" (PG-13): Kathy Bates and Alfre Woodard play friends whose families become enmeshed in scandal.

"The Women" (PG-13): Annette Benning, Meg Ryan and Eva Mendes are among the cast for this remake of George Cukor's 1939 classic.

Sept. 19

"Ghost Town" (not yet rated): Ricky Gervais stars as a misanthropic dentist who can, yes, see dead people in New York. One of them (Greg Kinnear) wants him to romance his widow (Tea Leoni) to prevent her from marrying a boring man (Bill Campbell).

"Igor" (PG): John Cusack lends his voice to this animated film about the hunchbacked lab assistant who has ideas of his own. Also stars Steve Buscemi, John Cleese and Eddie Izzard.

"Lakeview Terrace" (PG-13): Samuel L. Jackson stars as a Los Angeles cop who disapproves of the interracial couple who move in next door (Patrick Wilson, Kerry Washington), and goes to extremes to get rid of them.

"Management" (not yet rated): Jennifer Aniston stars in a movie romance. Steve Zahn loves her. Does she love him? Woody Harrelson waits in the wings.

"My Best Friend's Girl" (R): Dane Cook alert His best friend gets him to go out on a date with his girlfriend (Kate Hudson), so that the friend will look good in comparison.

Sept. 26

"Choke" (R): Sam Rockwell stars as a man who pretends to choke on food in restaurants, only to have people save him -- and send him money. Meanwhile, he's a sex addict. Based on Chuck Palahniuk's book.

"Eagle Eye" (PG-13): Shia LaBeouf and Michelle Monaghan are being manipulated in an assassination plot.

"The Lucky Ones" (R): Rachel McAdams, Tim Robbins and Michael Pena star as three soldiers back from Iraq hitting the road.

"Miracle at St. Anna" (R): Spike Lee tells the story of four black soldiers trapped behind enemy lines in Italy in World War II.

"Nights in Rodanthe" (PG-13): Richard Gere and Diane Lane hook up for a third film ("The Cotton Club" and "Unfaithful"). This time they're in a North Carolina beach town.

"Towelhead" (R): Summer Bishil stars as Jasira, an Arab-American girl coming of age in Houston. Alan Ball makes his feature-film debut as a director.

Oct. 3

"Appaloosa" (R): Ed Harris directs and stars in this Western about two men (Harris and Viggo Mortensen) hired to protect a small town.

"Beverly Hills Chihuahua" (PG): A spoiled dog gets stranded in Mexico. Drew Barrymore, Salma Hayek, Jamie Lee Curtis and Andy Garcia join the cast.

"Blindness" (R): In a city where everyone else is blinded, Julianne Moore is the only person who can still see. Moore's always good, and the concept's certainly intriguing.

"The Duchess" (PG-13): Keira Knightley stars as Georgiana, the Duchess of Devonshire, in this period piece directed by Saul Dibb.

"The Express" (PG): Rob Brown is star Syracuse running back Ernie Davis, the first black player to win the Heisman Trophy.

"What Just Happened" (R): Robert De Niro is a movie producer wrestling with all sorts of troubles, including Bruce Willis' beard.

"Sex Drive" (not yet rated): Ian (Josh Zuckerman) goes across the country with some buds to lose his virginity to a babe he met on the Internet.

Oct. 10

"Body of Lies" (R): Leonardo DiCaprio plays a CIA agent, Russell Crowe his handler. Probably pretty good, but DiCaprio's scenes in the trailer could have been lifted from "The Departed."

"City of Ember" (not yet rated): Bill Murray is the mayor of Ember, an underground city with problems, in this fantasy that includes Martin Landau and Tim Robbins.

Oct. 17

"Happy-Go-Lucky" (not yet rated): Sally Hawkins stars as Poppy, a teacher with a much-needed sense of humor.

"Flash of Genius" (PG-13): Greg Kinnear stars as Bob Kearns, the man who invented the intermittent windshield wiper, had the idea stolen and then fought the car companies who stole it. Based on a true story (really).

"Max Payne" (not yet rated): Mark Wahlberg plays the title character, a DEA agent. Based on a video game.

"The Secret Lives of Bees" (PG-13): A girl (Dakota Fanning) escapes her abusive father with her nanny (Jennifer Hudson) and winds up at a bee farm. Based on Sue Monk Kidd's book.

"W." (not yet rated): Oliver Stone's controversial take on the life of George W. Bush. Josh Brolin plays Bush; Stone has assembled his usual top-flight cast, including Elizabeth Banks, Richard Dreyfuss and James Cromwell.

Oct. 24

"The Brothers Bloom" (PG-13): Adrien Brody and Mark Ruffalo are con men who specialize in bilking the rich; Rachel Weisz plays a rich heiress.

"Crossing Over" (not yet rated): Harrison Ford, Sean Penn and Ray Liotta star in a film not about seeing dead people, as the title might imply, but about the other kind of crossing over -- immigrants trying to make their way to and in America.

"High School Musical 3: Senior Year" (not yet rated): We could provide more detailed information than the title relates, but really, if you saw the first two, you almost certainly know what you need to.

Oct. 31

"The Haunting of Molly Hartley" (PG-13): It wouldn't be Halloween without a teen-in-peril scary movie. This time: Haley Bennett is the title character, haunted by voices and visions and such.

"RocknRolla" (R): Guy Ritchie returns to directing British crime dramas, this one starring Gerald Butler.

"Zack and Miri Make a Porno" (R): Kevin Smith has never been Mr. Subtlety. Now it extends to his titles. Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks play the longtime pals who decide to make a dirty movie to make money.

Nov. 7

"Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa" (not yet rated): The gang's all here for a sequel to the first film, which found animals from the Central Park Zoo in the wild, roughing it.

"Quantum of Solace" (not yet rated): Daniel Craig is back as James Bond, this time out for revenge over the death of his lover.

Nov. 14

"Australia" (not yet rated): Big huge epic starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. Guess where it's set.

"The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas" (PG-13): Vera Farmiga and David Thewlis star in the story of the son of a concentration camp commandant who befriends a Jewish boy held there.

"Nothing Like the Holidays" (PG-13): John Leguizamo and Freddy Rodriguez star in the story of a Puerto Rican family celebrating Christmas in Chicago.

"Soul Men" (not yet rated): The late, great Bernie Mac and Samuel L. Jackson play backup singers who reunite 20 years after their lead singer (John Legend) dies.

Nov. 21

"Bolt" (not yet rated): Bolt (voice of John Travolta) doesn't realize that he doesn't really have super powers, that he in fact simply plays a dog with them on TV.

"The Soloist" (not yet rated): Based on a true story, this stars Jamie Foxx as a schizophrenic homeless man with big dreams.

"Twilight" (not yet rated): Stephenie Meyer's book hits the big screen, with Kristen Stewart as the girl who falls in love with a vampire (Robert Pattinson).

Nov. 26

"Four Christmases" (not yet rated): Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon play a couple who visit their divorced parents over the holidays.

"Transporter 3" (PG-13): Jason Statham returns to answer the question: There was a "Transporter 2"?

Dec. 5

"Punisher: War Zone" (not yet rated): Ray Stevenson takes over the role of the Punisher, who is still out there meting out justice. Dominic West plays his adversary.

Dec. 12

"The Day the Earth Stood Still" (not yet rated): So, is it a stroke of genius in casting Keanu Reeves as Klaatu, the alien visiting Earth, or just a mean joke?

Dec. 19

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (not yet rated): Brad Pitt teams with David Fincher in this tale of a man born old who ages backward.

"Doubt" (not yet rated): Meryl Streep stars as a nun who accuses a priest (Philip Seymour Hoffman) of abusing a boy. John Patrick Shanley directs.

"Seven Pounds" (not yet rated): A suicidal IRS agent (Will Smith) decides to help seven people.

"The Tale of Desperaux" (not yet rated): Emma Watson, Matthew Broderick, Dustin Hoffman and Sigourney Weaver are among the stars lending their voices.

"Yes Man" (not yet rated): Jim Carrey can't say no. That's not an evaluation of his script choices, it's the plot of the movie. Guy says yes to everything for a year.

Dec. 25

"Bedtime Stories" (not yet rated): Your gift for the holidays: an Adam Sandler movie on Christmas. Sandler's character tells his niece and nephew bedtime stories that come true.

"Hurricane Season" (not yet rated): Forest Whitaker coaches a New Orleans high-school basketball team made up of players from rival schools, who must play together a year after Hurricane Katrina.

"Marley & Me" (not yet rated): Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson star in this film about a family who learns much from a dog named Marley.

"The Spirit" (not yet rated): Frank Miller directs the tale of Will Eisner's hugely influential comic about a cop (Gabriel Macht) who fights crime from beyond.

"The Time Traveler's Wife" (not yet rated): Henry (Eric Bana) is a librarian who travels through time -- involuntarily.

Dec. 26

"Valkyrie" (not yet rated): Tom Cruise stars as Claus von Stauffenberg, a Nazi colonel who became part of a plot to assassinate Hitler.

- By Bill Goodykoontz / Gannett News Service