July Movie Releases

Opening July 2

Hancock

Genre: Action, Comedy

Cast: Will Smith, Charlize Theron, Jason Bateman, Eddie Marsan

Story: There are heroes… there are superheroes… and then there’s Hancock (Will Smith). With great power comes great responsibility – everyone knows that – everyone, that is, but Hancock. Edgy, conflicted, sarcastic, and misunderstood, Hancock’s well-intentioned heroics might get the job done and save countless lives, but always seem to leave jaw-dropping damage in their wake. The public has finally had enough – as grateful as they are to have their local hero, the good citizens of Los Angeles are wondering what they ever did to deserve this guy. Hancock isn’t the kind of man who cares what other people think – until the day that he saves the life of PR executive Ray Embrey (Jason Bateman), and the sardonic superhero begins to realize that he may have a vulnerable side after all. Facing that will be Hancock’s greatest challenge yet – and a task that may prove impossible as Ray’s wife, Mary (Charlize Theron), insists that he’s a lost cause.

Director: Peter Berg

Studio: DreamWorks Animation

Web site: Hancock-movie.com

Opening July 11

Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Genre: Action, Thriller

Cast: Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones, Luke Goss, Seth MacFarlane, Anna Walton, Brian Steele, Roy Dotrice, John Hurt

Story: With a signature blend of action, humor and character-based spectacle, the saga of the world’s toughest, kitten-loving hero from Hell continues to unfold in “Hellboy II: The Golden Army.” Bigger muscle, badder weapons and more ungodly villains arrive in an epic vision of imagination from Oscar(r)-nominated director Guillermo del Toro (“Pan’s Labyrinth,” “Hellboy”).

Director: Guillermo del Toro

Studio: Universal Pictures

Web site: Hellboymovie.com |

Journey to the Center of the Earth

Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-Fi

Cast: Brendan Fraser, Josh Hutcherson, Anita Briem

Story: An exciting adventure based on the classic Jules Verne novel “Journey to the Center of the Earth,” “Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D” stars Brendan Fraser (“Crash,” “The Mummy”) as a science professor whose untraditional hypotheses have made him the laughing stock of the academic community. But on an expedition in Iceland, he and his nephew stumble upon a major discovery that launches them on a thrilling journey deep beneath the Earth’s surface, where they travel through never-before-seen worlds and encounter a variety of unusual creatures. “Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D” is directed by Academy Award-winning visual effects veteran Eric Brevig (“Total Recall,” “Pearl Harbor”) from a screenplay by Michael Weiss and Jennifer Flackett & Mark Levin. The film is a co-venture between New Line Cinema and Walden Media

Director: Eric Brevig

Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures

Web site: Journey3Dmovie.com

Meet Dave

Genre: Comedy, Sci-Fi

Cast: Eddie Murphy, Elizabeth Banks, Gabrielle Union, Ed Helms, Judah Friedlander, Pat Kilbane

Story: Dave Ming Chang (Eddie Murphy), newly arrived in New York City, may be the ultimate fish out of water. There’s something about him that’s not quite right – for starters, he seems remarkably out of place and uncomfortable in his own body. And for good reason: “Dave” is not a man at all, but a ship made in the image of its miniature-sized captain. It’s Eddie Murphy in Eddie Murphy in “Meet Dave.”

Director: Brian Robbins

Studio: 20th Century Fox

Web site: MeetDavemovie.com

Midnight Meat Train

Genre: Drama, Horror

Cast: Bradley Cooper, Brooke Shields, Vinnie Jones, Leslie Bibb, Roger Bart, Peter Jacobson, Barbara Eve Harris

Story: Next stop…death. When Leon Kaufman’s (Bradley Cooper) latest body of work – a collection of provocative, nighttime studies of the city and its inhabitants – earns the struggling photographer interest from prominent art gallerist Susan Hoff (Brooke Shields), she propels him to get grittier and show the darker side of humanity for his upcoming debut at her downtown art space. Believing he’s finally on track for success, Leon’s obsessive pursuit of dark subject matter leads him into the path of a serial killer, Mahogany (Vinnie Jones), the subway murderer who stalks late-night commuters – ultimately butchering them in the most gruesome ways imaginable. With his concerned girlfriend Maya (Leslie Bibb) fearing for his life, Leon’s relentless fascination with Mahogany lures him further and further into the bowels of the subways and ultimately into an abyss of pure evil – inadvertently pulling Maya right along with him.

Director: Ryuhei Kitamura

Studio: Lionsgate

Web site: Lionsgate.com/MidnightMeatTrain

Opening July 18

The Dark Knight

Genre: Action, Crime

Cast: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman

Story: “The Dark Knight” reunites director Christopher Nolan with star Christian Bale, who returns to continue Batman’s war on crime. With the help of Lieutenant Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) and District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), Batman sets out to destroy organized crime in Gotham for good. The triumvirate proves to be effective, but they soon find themselves prey to a rising criminal mastermind known as the Joker (Heath Ledger), who thrusts Gotham into anarchy and forces the Dark Knight ever closer to crossing the fine line between hero and vigilante.

Director: Christopher Nolan

Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures

Web site: TheDarkKnight.com

Mamma Mia!

Genre: Comedy, Musical, Romance

Cast: Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgård, Julie Walters, Dominic Cooper, Amanda Seyfried, Christine Baranski

Story: Meryl Streep leads an all-star cast in the feature-film adaptation of the beloved musical that has been seen by more than 30 million people in 160 cities and 8 languages around the world. Bringing the timeless lyrics and melodies of iconic super group ABBA to movie audiences, Summer 2008 is the season for “Mamma Mia!”

The three women who created the worldwide smash stage hit—global producer Judy Craymer, writer Catherine Johnson and director Phyllida Lloyd—repeat their roles in bringing this joyful, musical story to the big screen. The Mamma Mia! film is produced by Judy Craymer and Gary Goetzman.

Director: Phyllida Lloyd

Studio: Universal Pictures

Web site: MammaMiamovie.com

Space Chimps

Genre: Adventure, Animation, Comedy

Cast: Andy Samberg, Cheryl Hines, Patrick Warburton, Kristin Chenoweth, Stanley Tucci

Story: “Space Chimps” is an intergalactic comedy that highlights the antics of astronaut chimps with the “wrong stuff.” Ham III (Samberg), the slacker grandson of the first chimp blasted into space before manned spaceflight, joins two other astronaut chimps for a dangerous mission through a black hole to an inhabited planet. When they’re stranded there, the chimps must help the inhabitants rid themselves of a tyrannical leader, and then figure out how to get back to Earth.

Director: Kirk De Micco

Studio: 20th Century Fox

Web site: SpaceChimpspower.com

Opening July 25

Longshot

Genre: Comedy, Family

Cast: Ice Cube, Tasha Smith, Keke Palmer, Jill Marie Jones, Earthquake

Story: Based on a true story, a poor Illinois town comes together behind the local Pop Warner football team and their unlikely quarterback, Jasmine Plummer, the first female in Pop Warner football history. Under the tutelage of her uncle Curtis, a former high school football star, Jasmine leads her team, the Harvey Colts, to the Pop Warner Super Bowl and inspires the town of Wallace to reclaim some of its former glory.

Director: Fred Durst

Studio: Dimension Films (The Weinstein Company), MGM

Web site: TheLongshots-movie.com

Step Brothers

Genre: Comedy

Cast: Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Richard Jenkins, Mary Steenburgen, Adam Scott, Katherine Hahn

Story: Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly, who last teamed in the box-office smash “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby,” now star in “Step Brothers,” directed by Adam McKay (“Talladega Nights”). In “Step Brothers,” Ferrell plays Brennan Huff, a sporadically employed thirty-nine-year-old who lives with his mother, Nancy (Mary Steenburgen). Reilly plays Dale Doback, a terminally unemployed forty-year-old who lives with his father, Robert (Richard Jenkins). When Robert and Nancy marry and move in together, Brennan and Dale are forced to live with each other as step brothers. As their narcissism and downright aggressive laziness threaten to tear the family apart, these two middle-aged, immature, overgrown boys will orchestrate an insane, elaborate plan to bring their parents back together. To pull it off, they must form an unlikely bond that maybe, just maybe, will finally get them out of the house. The screenplay is by Will Ferrell & Adam McKay from a story by Will Ferrell & Adam McKay & John C. Reilly. Jimmy Miller and Judd Apatow produce.

Director: Adam McKay

Studio: Columbia Pictures (Sony)

Web site: StepBrothers-movie.com

The X-Files: I Want to Believe

Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller

Cast: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Xzibit, Amanda Peet, Billy Connolly, Callum Keith Rennie, Adam Godley

Story: “The X-Files: I Want to Believe” is a stand-alone story in the tradition of some of the show’s most acclaimed and beloved episodes, and takes the complicated relationship between Fox Mulder (Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Anderson) in unexpected directions. Mulder continues his unshakable quest for the truth, and Scully, the passionate, ferociously intelligent physician, remains inextricably tied to Mulder’s pursuits.

Director: Chris Carter

Studio: 20th Century Fox

Web site: XFiles.com