Dec. 19

“Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” rated PG-13 and directed by Peter Jackson, starring Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Liv Tyler, and Cate Blanchett. In a small village in the Shire, a young hobbit named Frodo has been entrusted with an ancient ring. Now he must embark on an epic quest to the Cracks of Doom in order to destroy it. Based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy classic “The Lord of the Rings,” the film is the first in a trilogy to be released over the next three Christmases.

Dec. 21

“Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius” rated G and directed by John A. Davis, starring the voices of Patrick Stewart, Martin Short, Andrea Martin, Debi Derryberry, and Rob Paulsen. Parents across the Earth are kidnapped by aliens called Yokians and Jimmy Neutron leads the children of the world to rescue them.

“The Majestic” rated PG and directed by Frank Darabont, starring Jim Carrey, Martin Landau, Laurie Holden, Amanda Detmer, Bob Balaban and David Ogden Stiers. Set in 1951, a young writer faces the House Un-American Activities Committee blacklist after the war. Suffering from amnesia after a car crash, he stumbles into a small town where he is mistaken for the one of the town’s lost sons of World War II.

“Joe Somebody” rated PG and directed by John Pasquin, starring Tim Allen, Hayden Panettiere, Julie Bowen, Jim Belushi and Kelly Lynch. A single father is beaten up and humiliated in front of his daughter on “Take your daughter to work day.” He decides to fight back, with his quest for vengeance resulting in romance.

“Kate and Leopold” rated PG-13 and directed by James Mangold, starring Meg Ryan, Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Natasha Lyonne, Breckin Meyer and Bradley Whitford. A modern-day woman executive (Ryan) falls for a 19th century duke (Jackman) transported through time to the modern world.

“How High” rated R and directed by Jesse Dylan, starring Method Man, Redman, Hector Elizondo, Fred Willard, Chris Elwood and Dennison Samaroo. Two friends discover marijuana with supernatural effects that allows them to pass their entrance exams to Harvard University. After arriving, their supply runs out and the pair is forced to find other ways to obtain their degrees.

Dec. 25

“Imposter” rated PG-13 and directed by Gary Fleder, starring Gary Sinise, Madeleine Stowe, Vincent D’Onofrio, Tony Shalhoub, Mekhi Phifer, Tim Guinee, Shane Brolly, and Jack Truman. Based on the Philip K. Dick short story, an engineer creates the ultimate weapon in a battle against aliens, only to be suspected as an alien himself. Second in a three-part anthology.

“Ali” not yet rated and directed by Michael Mann, starring Will Smith, Jamie Foxx, Jon Voight, Mario Van Peebles, Ron Silver, Mykelti Williamson, Michael Michelle, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Giancarlo Esposito. “Ali” is a biography of 1960s sports legend Muhammad Ali from 1964 to 1974. The film captures Ali’s rise to glory with his first heavyweight championship and the subsequent fall after his title and license had been stripped for refusal to go to Vietnam before rising again to claim the heavyweight crown for a second time in 1974.

Jan. 4

“A Beautiful Mind” rated PG-13 and directed by Ron Howard, starring Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Paul Bettany, Adam Goldberg, Ed Harris, Judd Hirsch, Christopher Plummer, Jason Gray-Stanford, and Anthony Rapp. “A Beautiful Mind” is the true story of John Forbes Nash, Jr., a young mathematical genius in the 1950s who followed a path of self-discovery to eventually fight through paranoid schizophrenia and win the Nobel Prize.

Jan. 11

“The Accidental Spy” not yet rated and directed by Teddy Chan, starring Jackie Chan, Kim Min, and Vivian Hsu. In this English-dubbed version, Jackie Chan plays an exercise equipment salesman whose encounter with jewelry store thieves leads him to a private investigator that convinces him that he is the lost son of a wealthy Korean businessman. He soon becomes involved in an international conspiracy surrounding the cure to lung cancer.

“Orange County” not yet rated and directed by Jake Kasdan, starring Colin Hanks, Jack Black, Jane Adams, Lizzy Caplan, Chevy Chase, Schuyler Fisk, Bret Harrison, Leslie Mann, John Lithgow, Catherine O’Hara, Harold Ramis, Olivia Rosewood, Lily Tomlin, and Mike White. A high school guidance counselor (Tomlin) accidently sends the transcripts of a complete loser to Stanford University, instead of the straight-A records of Hanks’ character.

“I am Sam” rated PG-13 and directed by Jessie Nelson, starring Sean Penn, Michelle Pfeiffer, Dakota Fanning, Doug Hutchison, Stanley DeSantis, Brad Silverman, Loretta Devine, Laura Dern, and Will Wallace. This film follows the story of Sam, a mentally challenged parent and his daughter Lucy, played by Fanning. When Lucy’s intellect surpasses her father’s, Sam fights to retain his daughter’s custody with the help of attorney Rita Harrison (Pfeiffer).

“The Shipping News” rated R and directed by Lasse Hallstr”m and starring Kevin Spacey, Julianne Moore, Cate Blanchett, Dame Judi Dench, Scott Glenn, Rhys Ifans, Pete Postlethwaite, Jason Behr, Katherine Moennig, and Gordon Pinsent. Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Annie Proulx, this film follows the story of journalist Quoyle (Spacey), who moves his aunt and daughters back to the small fishing town in Newfoundland his family has long lived in after a traumatic experience with his wife. Quoyle begins writing shipping news for the newspaper as he struggles to get his family’s life back together.

– Information gathered by Jennifer Schweisberger from upcoming moviews.com, imdb.com, eonline.com and movies.go.com.