LOS ANGELES - The B-list rules Hollywood's fall and holiday movie season: Bond, Bella and Bilbo.
Daniel Craig is back as James Bond in "Skyfall," the super-spy's first adventure in four years, one of the longest 007 hiatuses in the franchise's 50-year history.
Kirsten Stewart returns for her swan song as Bella Swan, alongside vampire hubby Robert Pattinson and jealous werewolf pal Taylor Lautner in "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2," the franchise finale.
And Bilbo Baggins goes jewelry shopping for an evil ring in "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," the first installment in Peter Jackson's three-part prelude to his Academy Award-winning adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings."
Ian McKellen, Cate Blanchett, Elijah Wood and others reprise their "Lord of the Rings" roles, but "The Hobbit" hinges on newcomer Martin Freeman as Bilbo. The filmmakers were so set on him that production halted for three months while Freeman returned to "Sherlock," the British TV hit in which he plays Dr. Watson.
"It was sort of unheard of for a big-budget movie, but because we wanted him so badly, the studio supported us, and we made that provision in our schedule," Jackson said. "He carries the movie. You get that casting wrong and you're in huge trouble."
Here's a look at other upcoming highlights.
SEPTEMBER
• Sept. 14: "Finding Nemo 3D," arguably Pixar's best movie, returns -this time in three dimensions.
• Sept. 14: In "Arbitrage," Richard Gere is a fraudulent hedge-fund manager trying to keep up pretenses as his fortunes start dwindling and the cops are on his trail.
• Sept. 14: In order to afford a New York City apartment, two college friends and roommates (Ari Graynor and Lauren Miller) start a thriving phone-sex business in "For a Good Time Call …"
• Sept. 14: Poor Milla Jovovich, is still fighting zombies in "Resident Evil: Retribution."
• Sept. 21: Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena are two police officers marked for murder by a drug cartel in "End of Watch," the latest gritty cop drama from writer-director David Ayer ("Training Day," "Harsh Times").
• Sept. 21: In "Dredd 3D," Karl Urban is the futuristic cop (previously played by Sylvester Stallone in 1995) who is judge, jury and executioner all in one.
• Sept. 21: Elisabeth Shue and Jennifer Lawrence star in "House at the End of the Street" as a mother and daughter who move to a new home and discover the girl who lived next door murdered her parents.
• Sept. 21: Joaquin Phoenix stars as a World War II vet mesmerized by a cult leader (Philip Seymour Hoffman) in "The Master."
• Sept. 21: For baseball fans, there's "Trouble with the Curve," starring Clint Eastwood as an old-timer on a scouting trip with his daughter (Amy Adams).
• Sept. 21: A documentary devoid of dialogue and descriptive text, "Samsara" explores the wonders of the modern world, including sacred grounds, disaster zones and industrial complexes.
• Sept. 28: Adam Sandler's in voice-only mode as Dracula in the animated monster mash "Hotel Transylvania."
• Sept. 28: Frustrated by bureaucracy and politics, two mothers (Viola Davis and Maggie Gyllenhaal) decide to do something to save their kids' failing inner-city school in "Won't Back Down."
OCTOBER
• Oct. 5: A shy freshman (Logan Lerman) is adopted by two popular seniors (Emma Watson and Ezra Miller) who help ease him out of his shell in "The Perks of Being a Wallflower."
• Oct. 5: "Pitch Perfect" stars Anna Kendrick as a college freshman who leads her all-girls singing group in a school competition against the boys' team. You know, like "Glee," but in college.
• Oct. 5: In "Sinister," a novelist (Ethan Hawke) discovers a box of creepy videos in his new home that reveal how the previous family died there. Then, strange things start to happen.
• Oct. 5: Liam Neeson returns as a violently over-protective family man in "Taken 2."
• Oct. 12: Director Ben Affleck ("Gone Baby Gone," "The Town") continues to stretch as a filmmaker with "Argo," a fact-based story about an attempt to rescue six Americans during the Iran hostage crisis in 1979.
• Oct. 12: Kevin James goes from lethargic science teacher to mixed martial-arts sensation in the comedy "Here Comes the Boom."
• Oct. 12: Selected as the opening night film for Sundance 2012, "Hello I must Be Going" features Melanie Lynskey as a recent divorcée who seeks refuge in the suburban home of her parents (Blythe Danner and John Rubinstein).
• Oct. 12: Martin McDonagh, writer-director of "In Bruges," returns with "Seven Psychopaths," a violent comedy about a screenwriter (Colin Farrell) whose wacky friends (Christopher Walken and Sam Rockwell) kidnap a gangster's dog. There will be blood.
• Oct. 19: Tyler Perry sets aside the Madea drag to play the detective of James Patterson's best-selling novels, on the trail of a psychotic serial killer (Matthew Fox) in "Alex Cross."
• Oct. 19: Brad Pitt's a mob enforcer tracking rogue hoods in "Killing Them Softly." He reunites with writer-director Andrew Dominik for this violent drama that also stars James Gandolfini, Ray Liotta and Richard Jenkins.
• Oct. 19: Expect more spooky things that go bump in the night at sudden moments in "Paranormal Activity 4."
• Oct. 26: A surfer (Jonny Weston) embarks on a quest to ride the dangerous Northern California waves known as Mavericks in "Chasing Mavericks."
• Oct. 26: "Cloud Atlas" is the fall's most ambitious (and craziest, in a good way) film is an adaptation of David Mitchell's seemingly unfilmable novel, with Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugo Weaving, Susan Sarandon and Hugh Grant playing multiple roles in interlocking stories set during different time periods. Tom Tykwer ("Run Lola Run") and Larry and Lana Wachowski ("The Matrix") shared the directing duties.
• Oct. 26: Victoria Justice stars as a teen planning to attend a big Halloween bash when she's asked by her parents to look after her little brother - who almost immediately disappears in "Fun Size."
• Oct. 26: The Sundance crowd raved about "The Sessions," a drama about a man in an iron lung (John Hawkes) who asks his priest (William H. Macy) and his therapist (Helen Hunt) to help him lose his virginity before he dies.
• Oct. 26: After the death of her father, a girl is drawn into an alternate universe replete with monsters and spirits in "Silent Hill: Revelation 3D."
NOVEMBER
• Nov. 2: Director Robert Zemeckis' first live-action movie since 2000's "Cast Away," "Flight" stars Denzel Washington as an airline pilot whose past comes back to haunt him after he becomes a hero for saving the lives of his passengers during a disastrous flight.
• Nov. 2: Wu-Tang Clan member RZA makes his directorial debut with "The Man with the Iron Fists," a martial arts adventure (co-written by Eli Roth) about a blacksmith (Russell Crowe) who must help defend his small village from attackers in feudal China. Kanye West and The Black Keys contributed to the soundtrack, and Quentin Tarantino served as a consultant. Oh, and it's also in 3-D. How's that for eclectic?
• Nov. 2: In "Wreck-It Ralph," the villain (voiced by John C. Reilly) of an old-school 1980s arcade video game (think Donkey Kong, only not exactly) tires of always being the bad guy and starts to sneak into other video games to play the hero. Judging by the trailer, this one is going to be huge.
• Nov. 9: Expectations are high for "Skyfall" - the 23rd installment in the James Bond series, with Javier Bardem, Judi Dench, Ralph Fiennes and Albert Finney joining the returning Daniel "007" Craig. Director Sam Mendes ("American Beauty") is trying his hand at action for the first time.
• Nov. 16: Director Steven Spielberg and screenwriter Tony Kushner adapt Doris Kearns Goodwin's critically acclaimed book "Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln." Daniel Day-Lewis stars as the 16th president during his final months in office. Sally Field, David Strathairn, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, James Spader and Tommy Lee Jones round out the supporting cast. Can you say "Oscars all over the place?"
• Nov. 21: Ang Lee ("Brokeback Mountain") adapts "Life of Pi," Yann Martel's best-selling novel, about the son of an Indian zookeeper who is stranded on a lifeboat with an assortment of wild animals, including a 450-pound Bengal tiger. The trailer is astonishing.
• Nov. 21: "Red Dawn," the long-delayed remake of the 1980s staple about a group of teens defending the United States from a foreign invasion, stars Chris Hemsworth, Adrianne Palicki, Josh Hutcherson and Josh Peck as some of the young soldiers on the front line. Instead of Russia, the enemy is now North Korea.
• Nov. 21: In "Rise of the Guardians," Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy and other legendary titans must join forces to fight off an evil spirit that threatens to spoil the innocence of children the world over. Chris Pine, Hugh Jackman, Alec Baldwin and Jude Law provide the voices.
• Nov. 21: David O. Russell ("The Fighter," "Three Kings") directs "Silver Linings Playbook," a drama about a former schoolteacher (Bradley Cooper) who tries to move on with his life after a stint in a mental institution. Robert De Niro plays his dad, Julia Stiles is his ex-wife and Jennifer Lawrence is a mysterious girl who changes everything.
DECEMBER
• Dec. 7: In the romantic comedy "Playing for Keeps," Gerard Butler plays a down-on-his luck former soccer star who returns home to put his life back together and gets roped into coaching his son's soccer team.
• Dec. 14: "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" is the first installment in Peter Jackson's three-part prelude to his Academy Award-winning adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings."
• Dec. 19: "Zero Dark Thirty" reunites the Oscar-winning team of director-producer Kathryn Bigelow and writer-producer Mark Boal ("The Hurt Locker") for the story of the manhunt for Osama bin Laden.
• Dec. 21: Tom Cruise's "Jack Reacher," with Katie Holmes' ex playing a former military cop investigating a sniper case.
• Dec. 21: In "Not Fade Away" it's 1964, the Rolling Stones appear on television and three best friends from the suburbs of New Jersey decide to form a rock band. John Magaro, Will Brill and Jack Huston star.
• Dec. 21: Filmmaker James Cameron brings "Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away" to the big screen with a 3D aventure that lets the audience leap, soar, swim, and dance with the performers.
• Dec. 21: Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann revisit their marital woes as they reprise their "Knocked Up" characters in Judd Apatow's "This Is 40."
• Dec. 25: Billy Crystal and Bette Midler play grandparents at odds with their daughter (Marisa Tomei) in "Parental Guidance."
• Dec. 25: Seth Rogen goes on a road trip with his domineering mom (Barbra Streisand) in "The Guilt Trip."
• Dec. 25: Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained" stars Jamie Foxx and Leonardo DiCaprio in a pre-Civil War bounty hunter saga.
Captions compiled from reports by David Germain of The Associated Press, Rene Rodriguez of The Miami Herald and staff reports. Release dates may change.
Please Wait…
