Focus Features
With: Bill Murray, Jeffrey Wright, Sharon Stone, Frances Conroy, Jessica Lange, Tilda Swinton, Julie Delpy
The idea: A resolute bachelor visits ex-lovers when he discovers that he may have a previously unknown 19-year-old son.
Writer-director: Jim Jarmusch
* So? Paternity test
The Dukes of Hazzard
Comedy
Warner Bros.
With: Johnny Knoxville, Seann William Scott, Jessica Simpson, Burt Reynolds, Joe Don Baker, Lynda Carter
The idea: Updated version of the late 1979-85 TV series tracks the adventures of Bo and Luke Duke, their cousin Daisy and Boss Hogg.
Writer: John O'Brien
Director: Jay Chandrasekhar
* So? Hick parade
Grizzly Man
Documentary
Lions Gate Films
The idea: Outdoorsman and author Timothy Treadwell lived and died among the bears in the Alaskan wilderness.
Director: Werner Herzog
* So? Captivating ursine footage
Junebug
Drama
Sony Pictures Classics
With: Embeth Davidtz, Alessandro Nivola, Amy Adams, Ben McKenzie, Celia Weston
The idea: A Chicago art dealer travels to North Carolina to pursue a painter and meet her new in-laws.
Writer: Angus McLachlan
Director: Phil Morrison
* So? Southern discomfort
The Pink Panther
Comedy
Columbia Pictures/MGM
With: Steve Martin, Kevin Kline, Beyonce Knowles, Jean Reno
The idea: A new Inspector Clouseau pursues a famed missing diamond, this time belonging to a murdered soccer coach.
Writers: Len Blum and Steve Martin, story by Blum and Michael Saltzman based
on characters created by Maurice Richlin & Blake
Edwards
Director: Shawn Levy
* So? Clueless
Secuestro Express
Drama
Miramax Films
With: Mia Maestro, Carlos Julio Molina, Pedro Perez, Carlos Madera, Jean Paul Leroux, Ruben Blades
The idea: A young Venezuelan couple is kidnapped and held for ransom by thugs eager to extort money from the rich parents.
Writer-director: Jonathan Jakubowicz
* So? Tragedy of errors
Summer Storm
Drama
here!/Regent Releasing
With: Robert Stadlober, Kostja Ullmann, Alicja Bachleda-Curus, Hanno Kofler, Tristano Casanova, Juergen Tonkel, Miriam Morgenstern
The idea: The arrival of a gay rowing team at an athletic retreat puts into motion a confrontation between longtime German friends and crew teammates.
Writers: Thomas Bahmann, Marco Kreuzpaintner
Director: Kreuzpaintner
* So? Rowing camp
2046
Drama
Sony Pictures Classics
With: Tony Leung, Ziyi Zhang, Gong Li, Maggie Cheung
The idea: In a 1960s Hong Kong brothel, a novelist is inspired to write science fiction by the women he encounters.
Writer-director: Wong Kar-wai
* So? Constructive fragments
Aug. 12
The Baxter
Comedy
IFC Films
With: Michael Showalter, Elizabeth Banks, Michelle Williams, Justin Theroux
The idea: An obsessive accountant begins an unlikely romance with a beautiful and sophisticated woman.
Writer-director: Michael Showalter
* So? Improbably spontaneous
Deuce Bigalow:
European Gigolo
Comedy
Columbia Pictures
With: Rob Schneider, Eddie Griffin, Jeroen Krabbe
The idea: The unlikely male prostitute must return to the world's oldest profession to help clear his former pimp accused of murder.
Writers: Rob Schneider and David Garrett & Jason Ward; story by Schneider; based on characters created by Harris Goldberg & Schneider
Director: Mike Bigelow
* So? Enough said already
Four Brothers
Drama
Paramount Pictures
With: Mark Wahlberg, Tyrese Gibson, Andre Benjamin, Garrett Hedlund, Terrence Howard, Taraji P. Henson
The idea: Adopted siblings seek revenge after their mother is killed.
Writers: David Elliot & Paul Lovett
Director: John Singleton
* So? Tough guys on a rampage
Moonlight
Romance thriller
Indican Pictures
With: Laurien Van den Broeck, Hunter Bussemaker, Andrew Howard, Jemma Redgrave
The idea: A wealthy teenage Dutch girl discovers a wounded boy her own age, an Afghani drug courier, and keeps his existence a secret from her parents.
Writer: Carel Donck
Director: Paula van der Oest
* So? As improbable as it was three years ago
Pretty Persuasion
Comedy-drama
Samuel Goldwyn Films/Roadside Attractions
With: Evan Rachel Wood, James Woods, Ron Livingston, Elisabeth Harnois, Jane Krakowski, Selma Blair
The idea: A provocative teen coerces her friends into
staging a sexual harassment case against their English teacher.
Writer: Skander Halim
Director: Marcos Siega
* So? The unkindest cuts
The Skeleton Key
Thriller
Universal Pictures
With: Kate Hudson, Gena Rowlands, Peter Sarsgaard, Joy Bryant, John Hurt
The idea: A young woman unlocks one too many doors in the decrepit mansion where she works as a live-in nurse.
Writer: Ehren Kruger
Director: Iain Softley
* So? A lot of things that go bump in the night
Aug. 17
Supercross
Action
Fox
With: Steve Howey, Mike Vogel, Sophia Bush, Robert Carradine, Daryl Hannah, Robert Patrick, Aaron Carter, Jesse James
The idea: Two brothers overcome physical and emotional obstacles in the high-flying world of stadium motocross.
Writers: Bart Baker, Ken Solarz
Director: Steve Boyum
* So? Speed, sweat and dust
Aug. 19
Asylum
Thriller
Paramount Classics
With: Natasha Richardson, Sir Ian McKellen, Marton Csokas, Hugh Bonneville, Augustus Jeremiah Lewis
