Lucky stars? Studios betting big names will grab box-office gold

Bruce Willis, Sandra Bullock, Matt Damon, George Clooney, Jim Carrey, Jennifer Aniston, Cameron Diaz, Elijah Wood, Megan Fox, Drew Barrymore …

Oh, did that get your attention?

Those are the types of big-name actors you typically associate with blockbuster summer movies, not the ones released during the supposedly "quieter" fall movie season.

Yet they've all got movies coming out before Thanksgiving.

Sony Pictures is even rushing the documentary "This is It" into theaters this fall. It contains some of the last-known concert footage of the late King of Pop, Michael Jackson.

Two of the most high-profile fall releases include a motion-capture version of "A Christmas Carol," featuring Carrey as Charles Dickens' creation Ebenezer Scrooge, as well as the long-awaited, live-action action adaptation of "Where the Wild Things Are."

They join a whole flurry of films that are clearly aimed at kids and families — including the animated features "Astro Boy," "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" and "Fantastic Mr. Fox."

In addition to those movies, fall releases include films that feature:

HEART-STOPPING HORRORS

"Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant" and "Zombieland" are pretty much self-explanatory. "Jennifer's Body" and "Sorority Row" both feature murderous students. And "Saw VI" is the latest in the continuing, "torture-porn" movie series.

KNEE-SLAPPING JOKES

"Napoleon Dynamite" filmmaker Jared Hess makes his welcome return with "Gentleman Broncos." Also hoping to get audiences laughing — "All About Steve," "Couples Retreat," "The Invention of Lying" and "Youth in Revolt."

PULSE-POUNDING THRILLS

"2012" and "Surrogates" are science-fiction thrillers, while "Whiteout" is set in Antarctica.

By the way, the highly anticipated Twilight sequel, "New Moon," and other later movie releases will be included in our 2009 Holiday Movie Preview, which will run in mid-November.

A listing of this fall's film releases, as well as their tentative release dates, can be found on Page W3.

e-mail: jeff@desnews.com