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CHARLIZE THERON

HANCOCK: Will Smith, Charlize Theron, Jason Bateman, Jae Head, Eddie Marsan (Directed by Peter Berg; Written by Vince Gilligan, Vincent Ngo; Columbia) Will Smith, as we know, can do anything--help kids in big trouble, make unhappy women happy, tell jokes, bash the bad guys, sail masterfully through unfriendly skies--and make it all look easy, as he does in this ambitious futuristic thriller. What’s the down side for Will--or rather Hancock, the superhero he plays? The public he continues to rescue from harm gets turned off by the chaos he creates in the process of performing his heroic deeds. Fortunately, a PR consultant (Jason Bateman) takes pity and does a splendid makeover on him. How does Hancock reward this image expert? He makes whoopie with his wife (Charlize Theron). And you thought they didn’t make them like this anymore. Opens 7/2/08

THE BRAZILIAN JOB: Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron, Jason Statham, Seth Green, Mos Def (Directed by F. Gary Gray; Written by David Twohy; Paramount) Wahlberg, Theron, Statham, Green and Def--the slick, stylish quintet of thieves who thrilled us with their bravado in 2003’s “The Italian Job”--are set to thrill us again, this time by pulling a red-hot heist in Rio de Janeiro. All they need is a director who can whip up the smart combination of humor, action and sexiness that made crime pay the last time around. And presumably that’s what they’ve got, since this sequel is being masterminded by F. Gary Gray, the man in charge of the original caper. Actually, the “original” was a remake of 1969’s “Italian Job,” directed by Peter Collinson and starring Michael Caine, Noel Coward, Raf Vallone, Rossano Brazzi and Margaret Blye. And that was good criminal fun, too. Opening date to be announced

EMMA THOMPSON

BRIDESHEAD REVISITED: Matthew Goode, Hayley Atwell, Ben Whishaw, Emma Thompson, Michael Gambon (Directed by Julian Jarrold; Written by Jeremy Brock and Andrew Davies; Miramax) This is as good a time as any to revisit Captain Charles Ryder, the stylishly disenchanted protagonist of Evelyn Waugh’s 1946 classic seriocomic novel. Toward the end of World War II, Ryder (played by Jeremy Irons in a memorable 1981 British TV miniseries and now played by Matthew Goode) is stationed at Brideshead, a sprawling castle that was once home to the Flytes, an aristocratic Catholic--and exceedingly sinful--family. Ryder’s wartime assignment stirs memories of a long-ago time spent with the mad, mad residents of the castle, including Lord and Lady Marchmain (Michael Gambon and Emma Thompson) and particularly siblings Sebastian and Julia (Ben Whishaw and Hayley Atwell), one an eccentric who became Ryder’s good drinking buddy and the other a beautiful, married neurotic who became his illicit lover. Ryder, by the way, never felt guilty about cheating on his own wife, since he knew that she was caught up in her own little world of sexual deceit. Opens 7/25/08

JOHN TRAVOLTA

THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123: Denzel Washington, John Travolta, James Gandolfini, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Alex Kaluzhsky (Directed by Tony Scott; Written by David Koepp; Columbia) One of the most entertaining and terrifying thrillers of 1974 was Joseph Sargent’s “The Taking of Pelham 123,” which was adapted by Peter Stone from John Godey’s novel. Here’s how New York Times critic Nora Sayre described the story line in her rave review: “Four highly efficient hoods hijack an IRT subway car and hold eighteen people hostage for a million dollars; if the city doesn't pay within an hour, one hostage will be shot a minute. The Transit Authority, the Police Department, the Mayor and his colleagues all go into frenzied but coordinated action, while the film cuts most expertly between the stalled car and its passengers, the T.A. Command Center, Gracie Mansion, and the city streets.” With director Tony Scott and screenwriter David Koepp in charge, we will once again be hurried along on a harrowing trip through the jangly streets and dark tunnels of the Big Apple. Denzel Washington will try on the role of the cool transit cop played by Walter Matthau in the original, John Travolta inherits Robert Shaw’s role of a sadistic hijacker, and James Gandolfini--on leave from Jersey--is the panicky Mayor of New York. Opening date to be announced

FOR GUY FLATLEY'S 1976 INTERVIEW WITH JOHN TRAVOLTA, click here.

FOR A COMPLETE ALPHABETICAL LISTING OF STAR TURNS, CLICK HERE.