Hamlet 2
Opening August 22, 2008
In the tradition of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Hamlet 2 uses Hamlet as a jumping off point. The should-be-huge Steve Coogan (24 Hour Party People, Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story) stars as a failed actor-turned-teacher that must put on a play (an apropos play-within-a-play, no less) in order to save his school’s drama department. He drafts the eponymous sequel, a musical that features the ambivalent Danish Prince, a time machine, Jesus, and a host of musical numbers (i.e. “Rock Me Sexy, Jesus”). Mayhem, 1st Amendment debates, and Elisabeth Shue appearances ensue. Amy Poehler and the divine Catherine Keener also star. –S.T.



Burn After Reading
Opening September 12, 2008
After the painfully mediocre The Ladykillers the Coens had lost a little luster. Then a bobbed killer, a bleak desert landscape, and a Cormac McCarthy tome catapulted them to stratospheric cinematic heights. Here, the follow-up returns them to playful territory. Hopefully more Raising Arizona than Intolerable Cruelty, Burn After Reading stars Brad Pitt and Coen muse, Frances McDormand, as a pair of hapless yet serendipitous laymen that discover sensitive materials and attempt to parlay the find into profit. The supporting cast is naturally stellar, with George Clooney and Tilda Swinton playing lovers - a tension capitalization and conversion from Michael Clayton - John Malkovich wielding a hatchet, and the underrated J.K. Simmons as a middle manager. -S.T.



Ghost Town
Opening September 19, 2008
During a colonoscopy, a jerk dentist dies for just under seven minutes. When he is revived he can see dead people; comedy ensues. Though the Heart and Souls meets The Sixth Sense premise is an ominous mélange, with Ricky Gervais as the medium - ala Robert Downey Jr./Haley Joel Osment - affability alone could buoy the material. David Koepp directed and co-scripted and his resumé has relied heavily on effects and cast rather than words (see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Spiderman, and Jurassic Park); the same formula might work here. Coming off of the glorious Extras and the Office Gervais was due for a starring vehicle and this will, at the very least, get his name a little more across-the-pond recognition. Greg Kinnear - wasn't he once nominated for an Oscar? - and Téa Leoni also star. -S.T.