Hollywood's blockbuster season

Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's "Superman Returns!"

And he's at the top of the summer-movie box-office heap!

Or is that "Mission: Impossible III"?

Or maybe "The Da Vinci Code"?

Or it could be "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest."

Or that disaster epic "Poseidon."

Or perhaps "X-Men: The Last Stand."

Pixar/Disney's "Cars"?

Oh, no — not "Snakes on a Plane"!

At this point, there's much debate about which of this summer's big movies will wind up the No. 1 box-office winner. The only consensus is that there are a lot of potential blockbusters coming.

This looks to be one of the most competitive summer-movie seasons in many years, which is good news for both Hollywood — especially coming off last year's box-office slump — and moviegoers.

Along with the aforementioned movies, the next four months also promise plenty of. . . .

LAUGHS: High-profile romantic comedies include "The Break-Up," with Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn. And Vaughn's "Wedding Crashers" pal Owen Wilson stars in "You, Me and Dupree."

Will Ferrell, Adam Sandler and Jack Black all headline competing comedies — "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby," "Click" and "Nacho Libre," respectively (the latter from "Napoleon Dynamite" director Jared Hess).

And animated comedies include "Barnyard," "Over the Hedge," "Monster House" and "The Ant Bully."

THRILLS: Competing to raise the hairs on the back of your neck are "The Reaping," a religious thriller, and the sequel "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift."

CHILLS: And as always, there are plenty of horror movies on the slate, including a remake of "The Omen," along with "See No Evil," "Pulse" and "The Descent," all hoping to scare up sizeable audiences.

In all, there are more than 75 movies scheduled to open between now and the end of August. For a roundup of titles and (tentative) release dates, see the list here: Summer offering films galore.

---

E-mail: jeff@desnews.com