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 Entertainment | April 2005 
10 Movies We Can't Wait to See
 Gary Susman - CNN.com
We count down summer's most anticipated screen showdowns: from Jane vs. J. Lo to Brad vs. Angelina, from Tom vs. Martians to Obi-Wan vs. Anakin.
10 Monster-in-Law
RELEASE DATE May 13
WHY WE CAN'T WAIT Not only have we waited 15 years since Jane Fonda's last movie, but the idea of the two-time Oscar winner doing a goofy comedy is intriguing.
THE PREMISE It's Jennifer Lopez's turn to meet the parents, as she gets engaged to a guy (Alias' Michael Vartan) whose only flaw is his scary, disapproving mother, Viola (Fonda, at left). In mom's defense: Would you want your son to be J. Lo's next ex-husband?
SOURCE An original screenplay by first-time screenwriter Anya Kochoff
THE BACKSTORY What drew the 67-year-old Fonda out of retirement? "I wanted to have fun," she says. "And I've never played anybody like [Viola]. Totally over-the-top, outrageous. I loved it — I want to do a sequel." Also, she did it for a good cause. "My salary went into the work I'm doing now in Georgia," which includes G-CAPP, the Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention.
BURNING QUESTION If the movie's not a hit, will we have to wait another 15 years for the next Fonda film?
COME FOR The Jane-Jenny showdown
STAY FOR Wanda Sykes, whose tart tongue should help puncture the picture if it gets too silly or syrupy
9 Wedding Crashers
RELEASE DATE July 15
WHY WE CAN'T WAIT In a season of otherwise family-friendly films, there are few opportunities for raunchy comedy, Old School-style, as provided by Owen Wilson (left) and Vince Vaughn. Advance buzz says this one is as shameless as it is hilarious.
THE PREMISE Wilson and Vaughn are pals who, like the title says, crash weddings to pick up women. But they get more than they bargained for when their latest conquests drag them along to a weekend retreat at the home of a scary government bigwig (Christopher Walken).
SOURCE A screenplay by former TV sitcom writers Steve Faber and Bob Fisher
THE BACKSTORY Vaughn reportedly applied some of the lessons he learned back in his Swingers days with Jon Favreau to his Crashers character's pick-up technique.
BURNING QUESTION Are moviegoers getting sick of Vaughn, Wilson, and their comedy clique (including Will Ferrell, who has a walk-on here)?
COME FOR The aging-fratboy charm of the two leads
STAY FOR Ellen Albertini Dow, who takes her hip grandma shtick from The Wedding Singer to a new, cruder level
8 Cinderella Man
RELEASE DATE June 3
WHY WE CAN'T WAIT As Chris Rock said at the Oscars, no one does period roles better than Russell Crowe. And the last time he got together with director Ron Howard, screenwriter Akiva Goldsman, and producer Brian Grazer, the result was Oscar champ A Beautiful Mind.
THE PREMISE Crowe plays Jim Braddock, the boxing champ whose hard-luck story encapsulates his era, the Great Depression. (Think of the movie as Seabiscuit with a left hook.) Renée Zellweger is Braddock's loyal wife, and Paul Giamatti (Sideways) is his trainer.
SOURCE The life of the real Jim Braddock
THE BACKSTORY The film's long journey to the screen makes it almost as much of a scrappy underdog as Braddock himself. Since the movie was greenlit five years ago, it's gone through at least three directors, three screenwriters, two leading men, and one production-delaying Crowe shoulder injury.
BURNING QUESTION Can Oscar lightning strike twice for this team — and for boxing dramas?
COME FOR Crowe unleashing hell in the ring
STAY FOR Crowe unleashing tears outside the ring. "Bring a hankie," says Grazer.
7 The Dukes of Hazzard
RELEASE DATE August 5
WHY WE CAN'T WAIT Because Jessica Simpson was born to fill Daisy Duke's short shorts. Also, because this should be more offbeat than the usual sitcom-to-screen adaptation, thanks to director/cowriter Jay Chandrasekhar (Broken Lizard's Club Dread). And did we mention Jessica Simpson's hot pants?
THE PREMISE Bo and Luke Duke (Johnny Knoxville, left, and Seann William Scott) are just a couple of good ol' boys, never meanin' no harm. Still, they get in trouble with the law, under the corrupt thumb of Boss Hogg (Burt Reynolds). They get out of it with the help of cousin Daisy (Simpson), Uncle Jesse (Willie Nelson), and a souped-up Dodge Charger.
SOURCE The 1979-85 CBS sitcom
THE BACKSTORY Chandrasekhar took the car chases seriously, hiring Dan Bradley, who coordinated those hair-raising chases in The Bourne Supremacy. "I told Dan I want [the chases] to feel like when you got in the car with that guy in high school who was out of control," the director says. "You got in that car once and didn't get in again."
BURNING QUESTION Is the car still named for Robert E. Lee and painted to look like the Confederate Stars and Bars, or have the Duke boys gone PC?
COME FOR The hot cast of young 'uns, who are wry and easy on the eye
STAY FOR The cool cast of elders, who are sly and spry
6 Mr. and Mrs. Smith
RELEASE DATE June 10
WHY WE CAN'T WAIT Sure, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have both denied having an on-set affair that helped end Pitt's marriage to Jennifer Aniston. That's not going to stop anyone from buying a ticket to watch these two pieces of human eye candy together on screen.
THE PREMISE Nothing revives a stagnant marriage like learning that your spouse is a top-secret assassin, and that he/she has been contracted to kill you. (Think Prizzi's Honor meets True Lies.) Apparently, the couple that slays together stays together.
SOURCE A screenplay by Simon Kinberg, also represented this summer by XXX: State of the Union and Fantastic Four
THE BACKSTORY The shoot was endless, as director Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity) focused on every detail; some days no shots were completed. "I don't analyze myself," Liman says. "I just know when I like it."
BURNING QUESTION Will we see sparks on screen? And will we be able to read them for clues as to what went on offscreen?
COME FOR The fireworks
STAY FOR The tender domestic drama. Liman says he wanted to "take the things that an action film holds sacred and say, 'This stuff's easy compared to maintaining a marriage."'
5 War of the Worlds
RELEASE DATE June 29
WHY WE CAN'T WAIT (Steven Spielberg + aliens) x Tom Cruise = Us + bucket of popcorn
THE PREMISE Mars attacks — and divorced dad Tom Cruise is unlucky enough to be at the epicenter, along with kids Justin Chatwin and Dakota Fanning (left).
SOURCE The 1898 H.G. Wells novel
THE BACKSTORY As with the notorious Orson Welles radio version, Spielberg updated the story to set it in contemporary New Jersey. "I never thought of doing it as a period piece at the turn of the century," the director says. "It just wasn't an interesting way to go. I just can't stand the styles of that time." Still, he promises, fans of the book will see familiar sights, like the alien tripods and the red weed growing everywhere.
BURNING QUESTION Spielberg and Cruise's previous sci-fi collaboration, 2002's Minority Report, barely earned back its production and marketing costs at the box office. Will this one be a hit?
COME FOR The epic spectacle
STAY FOR The intimate family drama. "It's not just a movie about aliens," Cruise insists. "It's a story… about a dad and his kids and their struggle to survive. It's really a very small, emotional movie."
4 Batman Begins
RELEASE DATE June 17
WHY WE CAN'T WAIT If anyone can make us forget the last couple of campy Batmovies, it's Christian Bale (American Psycho), who makes for an intense Dark Knight, and Christopher Nolan (Memento), who has directed brainy, haunting thrillers. Plus, there's the all-star cast of prestige players, including Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Ken Watanabe, and Cillian Murphy.
THE PREMISE How does Bruce Wayne (Bale) evolve from a kid left orphaned by a street crime to a tycoon who moonlights as a crime fighter dressed like a bat? Well, he has a lot of help, from mentors (Neeson and Freeman), his butler Alfred (Caine), the future Commissioner Gordon (Oldman), a lovely gal (Holmes), and supervillains Ra's Al Ghul (Watanabe) and the Scarecrow (Murphy).
SOURCE The DC Comics hero created by Bob Kane in 1939
THE BACKSTORY The costume really helped Bale get into character — because it was so uncomfortable. "The cowl was so damn tight," he says. "It gives you headaches and puts you in a foul mood. You're in a rage after an hour."
BURNING QUESTION It's what Nolan calls "the whole greatest American icon of the past 100 years, am I going to f--- it all up? question." Yeah, we're wondering too.
COME FOR Bale, who deserves to be a big movie star already
STAY FOR Murphy (28 Days Later, this summer's Red Eye), who also deserves to be a big movie star already
3 Hustle & Flow
RELEASE DATE July 15
WHY WE CAN'T WAIT The buzz on this hip-hop drama, an audience-prize winner at Sundance, couldn't be stronger. MTV Films, which won a record-setting bidding war for the distribution rights, believes it has another 8 Mile, or at least another indie smash like Napoleon Dynamite.
THE PREMISE Memphis pimp Djay (Terrence Howard, left, with DJ Qualls and Anthony Anderson) has an early midlife crisis and decides to become a rapper instead. But he learns that hip-hop, like pimpin', ain't easy.
SOURCE A screenplay by director Craig Brewer
THE BACKSTORY It probably didn't hurt that Howard is a self-taught musician in real life. (A longtime supporting player in films like The Best Man, Howard was last seen on screen playing guitar opposite Jamie Foxx's Ray Charles in Ray.) Still, Brewer drew the line at letting Howard contribute to Djay's lyrics.
BURNING QUESTION Backed by the marketing savvy of MTV and the brand-name prestige of Sundance and producer John Singleton (Boyz N the Hood), can this low-star-wattage indie break through to an audience large enough to justify the hype?
COME FOR Howard's star-making performance
STAY FOR The crunk. Not yet a fan of the burgeoning Southern rap genre? You will be once the film's soundtrack embeds itself in your ears
2 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
RELEASE DATE July 15
WHY WE CAN'T WAIT We have a sweet tooth for the collaborations of Johnny Depp and director Tim Burton. And who's better suited than these two to capture the story's creepy-whimsical tone and dream-world visuals?
THE PREMISE Waifish Charlie (Freddie Highmore, at left, Depp's young Finding Neverland costar) joins four other lucky golden ticket winners on a tour of the mysterious confection complex owned by Willy Wonka (Depp).
SOURCE The classic 1964 kiddie-lit novel by Roald Dahl, to which this film promises to be more faithful than the 1971 movie musical
THE BACKSTORY Depp signed on to reteam for the fourth time with the Edward Scissorhands director without having read the script or even knowing whether the film would be a musical. "Finally I did have to sit down with Tim and sort of ask, 'Am I singing in this?"' Depp says. (Answer: Nope.)
BURNING QUESTION Can we buy Wonka bars at the multiplex concession stand?
COME FOR Depp, on a roll with eccentric-but-family-friendly heroes after Neverland and Pirates of the Caribbean
STAY FOR Horror legend Christopher Lee, on a roll with chilling characters after The Lord of the Rings and Star Wars, as Willy Wonka's father
1 Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
RELEASE DATE May 19
WHY WE CAN'T WAIT Because George Lucas is finally going to answer the question that has puzzled moviegoers for nearly three decades. And that is…
THE PREMISE How does Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) become Darth Vader? Apparently, it's a process that involves his exploitation by power-hungry Senator Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid), his betrayal of his fellow Jedi knights, his wife Amidala (Natalie Portman, left, with Christensen) giving birth to future heroes Luke and Leia, and a galactic war involving clone soldiers. Call it Extreme Makeover: Clone Edition.
SOURCE The five previous Star Wars movies, as well as the expanded universe of George Lucas-approved spin-offs
THE BACKSTORY The filmmakers have been warning us for months that, unlike the previous installments, this one may be too brutal for the kiddies. Says producer Rick McCallum, "[For] fans who may have been disappointed, say, dealing with an 8-year-old boy when they wanted a more adult story, this kind of fulfills everything." It'll be violent, he says, but not too violent. "We never have any blood. But there is a lot of... interesting stuff."
BURNING QUESTION After the disappointments of the last two episodes (two words: Jar Jar), can Lucas redeem the franchise with a winning finish?
COME FOR That long-awaited, epic-length lightsaber duel between Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and his turncoat protégé, in which Anakin is likely to suffer the injuries that ultimately imprison him in Darth Vader's bionic armor
STAY FOR Chewie's bacc-a! Peter Mayhew reprises his role as everyone's favorite "walking carpet," seen this time among an army of Wookiees on their home planet of Kashyyyk |
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