Jude Law freaks and animation fans have reason to rejoice this fall: The skinny British actor stars in three features, while four epic animation pieces powered by A-list actors and/or underwater themes promise to dominate the family-friendly slice of the movie-going pie. For more grown-up sensibilities, last fall’s profiles of Sylvia Plath and Veronica Guerin have been supplanted by the autumn of the alpha-male bio pic. Colin Farrell takes on his most ambitious role to date playing Alexander the Great, while Jamie Foxx turns in a potentially career-making performance as Ray Charles.

Not that women are being slighted. After a string of male-dominated summer sequels, fall follow-ups feature females on top, with Renee Zellweger and Milla Jovovich reprising their "Bridget Jones" and "Alien Resident" roles, respectively. Julianne Moore and Queen Latifah also headline two pictures, while Reese Witherspoon throws a curveball to moviegoers with her first costume drama.

There are also pictures about tennis, football and baseball, and, just in time to sway the electorate, a big-budget political satire starring wooden puppets. Read on for a more detailed look at movies opening in wide release this fall. (All dates subject to change.)

Vanity Fair (Sept. 1, Focus Features): Reese Witherspoon stars as a witty, working-class flirt who calculates her way to the upper crust in 1820s London. But first, she’s stuck as a governess in a country home where a gentleman and his son vie for her affections. Oscar-winning writer Julian Fellowes ("Gosford Park") adapts the William Makepeace Thackeray classic with direction from Mira Nair ("Monsoon Wedding"). The stellar ensemble cast includes Eileen Atkins, Jim Broadbent, Gabriel Byrne, Bob Hoskins, Rhys Ifans, Natasha Little and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers. (Watch the trailer)

The Cookout (Sept. 3, Lions Gate): Queen Latifah cooked up the story idea: A star basketball player (Storm P) gets $30 million as the No. 1 draft pick for the New Jersey Nets and throws a celebratory barbecue for his old friends in his new white-bread neighborhood. Latifah plays the security guard in charge of keeping the party from getting too rowdy. Eve ("Barbershop"), Farrah Fawcett, Danny Glover, Vincent Pastore and Ja Rule co-star. (Watch the trailer)

Paparazzi (Sept. 3, Fox): Cole Hauser ("2 Fast 2 Furious," TV’s "ER") seeks revenge as an enraged movie star who hunts down a crew of celebrity photographers (including Tom Sizemore) after they cause a car crash that injures his wife (Robin Tunney) and son. Dennis Farina co-stars, with cameos from Mel Gibson, Matthew McConaughey, Chris Rock and Vince Vaughn. (Watch the trailer)

Wicker Park (Sept. 3, MGM): This remake of the 1996 French thriller "L’Appartement," set in Chicago’s arty Wicker Park neighborhood, features Josh Hartnett as a banker haunted by the disappearance two years ago of an old flame. After catching a glimpse of the missing woman, he ditches his current girlfriend and sets off on a twisted path to reclaim his lost love. (Watch the trailer)

Resident Evil: Apocalypse (Sept. 10, Screen Gems (Sony) ): This videogame- based sequel brings back Milla Jovovich as Alice, the ass-kicking military agent. Stranded in the plague-ridden Raccoon City, she joins forces with femme- warrior Jill Valentine (model-turned-actress Sienna Guillory of TV miniseries "Helen of Troy") to slay virus-infected zombies spawned from the machinations of a wheelchair-using evil genius (Jared Harris). (Watch the trailer)

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (Sept. 17, Paramount): Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow star in this sci-fi adventure set in 1930s Manhattan. She’s the spunky reporter investigating the disappearance of New York’s leading scientists. He’s her ex-boyfriend, Sky Captain, who joins her in his magnificent flying machine to battle the robots, mad scientists and underwater villains plotting to destroy the world. Angelina Jolie and Casey Affleck co- star. (Watch the trailer)

Wimbledon (Sept. 17, Universal): Tennis anyone? Paul Bettany graduates from playing Russell Crowe’s best friend ("Dangerous Mind," "Master and Commander") to play the leading man in this romantic comedy. He’s a washed-up British tennis player who gets one last chance to win the classy English tournament. Along the way, he courts a saucy Yank with a mean backhand (Kirsten Dunst). (Watch the trailer)

First Daughter (Sept. 24, Fox): This romantic comedy marks a frothy change of pace for Katie Holmes (TV’s "Dawson’s Creek," "Pieces of April"), who stars as the U.S. president’s rebellious 18-year-old daughter. Hankering for some privacy in college, she ditches her Secret Service agents and falls for a cute classmate (Marc Blucas), only to learn that he’s actually an undercover bodyguard. Michael Keaton plays the White House dad. Forest Whitaker ("Hope Floats," "Waiting to Exhale") directs the script by Jessica Bendinger ("Bring It On"). (Watch the trailer)

BUZZ: If the premise sounds familiar, it’s because a nearly identical story called "Chasing Liberty" came out earlier this year. The Mandy Moore picture was released by Warner Bros. in January after extensive schedule juggling as the two studios jockeyed for advantage.

The Forgotten (Sept. 24, Revolution Studios (Sony) ): Psychological thriller casts Julianne Moore as a mom who loses her 8-year-old son in an airplane crash. She’s understandably shocked when a psychiatrist (Gary Sinise) announces that her child is a figment of her imagination. She tries to figure out what’s really happening after she meets another mourning parent (Dominic West of HBO’s "The Wire") who’s afflicted with the same syndrome. (Watch the trailer)

Mr. 3000 (Sept. 24, Touchstone Pictures (Disney): Bernie Mac snags his first title role playing a jaded ex-baseball legend who comes out of retirement after learning he’s actually three hits short of the 3,000 that made him a Hall of Famer. Angela Bassett, Chris Noth and Paul Sorvino co-star. Filmed primarily in New Orleans, it’s the first big feature from "Drumline" director Charles Stone III. (Watch the trailer)

Ladder 49 (Oct. 1, Disney): In this post-Sept. 11, 2001, drama, Joaquin Phoenix plays a Baltimore fireman trapped in a burning building. Waiting for his captain (John Travolta) and the rest of the firehouse to rescue him, he sees his life flash before his eyes. Jacinda Barrett (MTV’s "The Real World"), Morris Chestnut and Balthazar Getty co-star.

Shark Tale (Oct. 1, DreamWorks): This CGI-animated adventure puts an A- list cast to work on behalf of a "Nemo"-meets "GoodFellas"story line. Robert De Niro lends his voice as the Shark crime boss (Don Lino) who mistakenly thinks a fast-talking fish named Oscar (Will Smith) killed his son. Also starring are Renee Zellweger, Angelina Jolie, Jack Black, Martin Scorsese, Peter Falk, Kevin Pollak, Doug E. Doug and Ziggy Marley, along with "Soprano" cast members Michael Imperioli and Vincent Pastore. Scripted by "Ice Age" co- writer Michael J. Wilson, the movie is directed by Bibo Bergeron ("The Road to El Dorado") and Vicky Jenson ("Shrek"). (Watch the trailer)

BUZZ: With its "Shrek 2" currently the top-grossing film of the year, DreamWorks is hoping to hit pay dirt again, just in time to create a boffo launch for the spin-off of its animation division as a publicly owned company. DreamWorks Animation has a lot to prove: The "Shrek" series is produced for the studio by Redwood City’s PDI company, and while the studio’s in-house animators have created traditional animation before, "Shark Tale" represents their first CGI effort.

A Sound of Thunder (Oct. 8, Warner Bros.): Based on a Ray Bradbury short story, this sci-fi piece revisits "Jurassic Park" turf, with Edward Burns as a time-traveling safari leader who takes tourists on prehistoric dinosaur hunts. The kills are synchronized to occur moments before the dinosaur would have died a natural death. When an amateur hunter accidentally steps on a butterfly, it has a disastrous ripple effect on the time-space-fate continuum. Ben Kingsley plays the travel agent; Catherine McCormack is the time-machine inventor.

Raise Your Voice (Oct. 8, New Line): The production company behind this music-driven Hilary Duff vehicle says it all: ChickFlicks Productions. Duff plays a small-town teenager who gets in over her head after her parents die and she comes to Los Angeles to attend performing-arts school. Rita Wilson, Ashlee Simpson, John Corbett, Rebecca De Mornay and Jason Ritter co-star. (Watch the trailer)

Taxi (Oct. 8, Fox): In this action comedy based on Luc Besson’s 1998 French hit, Queen Latifah races around Manhattan playing a taxi-driving single mom who is recruited by a cop (Jimmy Fallon) to track down a bodilicious bank robber (centerfold model Gisele Bundchen) and her posse. Tim Story ("Barbershop"), directs; Henry Simmons (TV’s "NYPD Blue"), Jennifer Esposito and Ann-Margret co-star.

Friday Night Lights (Oct. 8, Universal): Billy Bob Thornton plays real- life high-school football coach Gary Gaines in this drama, based on H.G. Bissinger’s nonfiction account of a grueling season. Students, townies, cheerleaders and everybody else in and around Odessa, Texas, get caught up in the Panthers’ drive to become state champion. Derek Luke ("Antwone Fisher") co- stars.

Shall We Dance? (Oct. 15, Miramax): Jennifer Lopez and Richard Gere try to pump up the chemistry in this remake of the 1996 Japanese hit. Gere is a burned-out accountant who spots a beautiful dance teacher (Lopez) giving lessons and decides to give it a whirl. Will his new steps perk up his stale marriage? Will he win the Chicago Crystal Ball Dance Competition? Susan Sarandon, Stanley Tucci, Bobby Cannavale and Nick Cannon co-star. (Watch the trailer)

Team America: World Police (Oct. 15, Paramount): "South Park" creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone write, produce and provide some of the voices for the wooden marionettes that star in this musical satire. To wit: A dim action hero joins Team America, a group of globe-trotting anti-terrorists who strive to make the world safe for democracy — when they’re not breaking into song. (Watch the trailer)

The Grudge (Oct. 22, Columbia): "Spider-Man" director Sam Raimi and Japanese horror-meister Takashi Shimizu ("Ringu") produced this horror flick, based on the Japanese hit "Ju-on." Sarah Michelle Gellar plays the heroine trying to contend with a viruslike curse created by a person who died in a murderous rage. (Watch the trailer)

Alfie (Oct. 22, Paramount): This made-in-Manhattan retooling of the bittersweet British film stars Jude Law in the ladies’ man title role originated in 1966 by Michael Caine. He’s the chauffeur-about-town who’s forced to question his swingin’ ways after he gets one of his girls — who include Sienna Miller, Marisa Tomei, Susan Sarandon, Omar Epps, Jane Krakowski and Nia Long — pregnant. (Watch the trailer)

Surviving Christmas (Oct. 22, DreamWorks): Ben Affleck plays the straight man to James Gandolfini’s mob dad in this "Meet the Parents" by way of "Analyze This" Christmas comedy. Affleck’s a wealthy but lonely record exec who revisits his childhood home for the holidays. The family now living there — including Christina Applegate as the brainy daughter to Gandolfini and Catherine O’Hara’s crazed parents — indoctrinate him to the ways of a psychotic yule.

Ray (Oct. 29, Universal): Jamie Foxx channels Ray Charles in this story focusing on the early career of the late great soul singer. Under the direction of Taylor Hackford ("An Officer and a Gentleman," "Proof of Life"), "Ray" highlights the musician’s pioneering fusion of gospel, blues, country and rock idioms while he struggles against racism and heroin addiction and juggles the complicated relationships with his long-suffering wife (Kerry Washington) and mistress (Regina King). (Watch the trailer)

BUZZ: Foxx does his own piano playing, having jammed at the keyboard with Charles himself before getting his seal of approval. For Taylor Hackford, who previously produced "La Bamba" and directed a 1987 documentary about Chuck Berry, bringing Ray Charles’ story to the big screen has been an obsession since 1989. The cast of larger-than-life supporting characters includes Sam Cooke; Jackie Wilson (played by R&B sensation Usher); and behind-the-scenes bigwigs, including Quincy Jones, Ahmet Ertegun and engineer Tom Dowd, profiled this year in a documentary of his own called "The Language of Music."

Alexander (Nov. 5, Warner Bros.): Oliver Stone directs Colin Farrell as the world-conquering Macedonian warrior who literally had it all by the time he died at age 33 in 323 B.C. The film focuses on his army’s eight-year trek through the Persian Empire, Egypt and India, along with his bisexual love life. Anthony Hopkins co-stars as Ptolemy with Angelina Jolie, Val Kilmer, Rosario Dawson (as his wife, Roxanne) and Jared Leto as Alexander’s favorite general and boy-toy Hephaistion.

BUZZ: With Leonardo DiCaprio’s "Alexander the Great" project delayed for at least a year, this version of the story, budgeted between $150 million and $200 million, is likely to generate "Gladiator"-caliber Oscar heat. Stone filmed his battlefield spectacles in Morocco, Thailand, India, Spain and England.

The Incredibles (Nov. 5, Disney): Pixar produces this CGI-animated feature about a comically dysfunctional family of superheroes, directed and co- written by Brad Bird ("The Iron Giant"). Craig T. Nelson plays an over-the- hill mega-dad who’s trying to keep a low Witness Protection profile in the ’burbs. He and his brood are pulled out of retirement to save the world from destruction. Samuel L. Jackson, Holly Hunter, Jason Lee, "Cheers" veteran John Ratzenberger and Wallace Shawn co-star.

The Polar Express (Nov. 10, Warner Bros.): Bob Zemeckis re-teams with his "Forrest Gump" and "Castaway" star Tom Hanks in this animated holiday fable. Adapted from a children’s book by Chris Van Allsburg, who also wrote "Jumanji, " the story is about a skeptical boy who takes a train to the North Pole and encounters a succession of wondrous characters. Hanks plays several parts, including the train conductor, thanks to a new motion-capture technique that transformed his live-action performances into a variety of animated counterparts. The late Michael Jeter co-stars along with Peter Scolari, Hanks’ castmate from the TV series "Bosom Buddies."

Seed of Chucky (Nov. 10, Focus Features/Rogue): Fifth in the killer-doll series catches up with Chucky (voiced by Brad Dourif) and his doll-bride Tiffany (Jennifer Tilly) as they try to raise their homicidally inclined spawn Glen (Billy Boyd). It’s the directorial debut for Don Mancini, who wrote all the previous Chucky films. Rapper Redman and John Waters have cameos.

After the Sunset (Nov. 12, New Line): Pierce Brosnan and Salma Hayek play jewel thieves who "retire" from their life of crime in the Caribbean — or do they? Woody Harrelson plays the FBI agent who hunts them down, convinced they’re actually planning to rip off a cruise ship loaded with diamonds.

The Ringer (Nov. 12, Fox Searchlight): This suitably rude comedy casts Johnny Knoxville as a hustler who poses as disabled "Jeffy" in a scheme to win the Special Olympics so he can pay off a debt. Special Olympics athlete John Taylor, who has Down syndrome, co-stars, and Barry Blaustein, maker of the wrestling documentary "Beyond the Mat," directs. The production has been approved by the Special Olympics board, which permitted filming at some of its events.

The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (Nov. 19, Paramount): Bikini Beach resident SpongeBob SquarePants, the happy-go-lucky fry cook at the Krusty Krab underwater diner, goes on a journey with a starfish and a squid to re-claim the stolen crown of King Neptune. "SpongeBob" creator (and former biology teacher) Stephen Hillenburg wrote the script. Scarlett Johansson, Jeffrey Tambor and Alec Baldwin provide voices along with veterans from the TV series, including Tom Kenny as SpongeBob.

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (Nov. 19, Universal): Renee Zellweger again went from a size 6 to a size 14 to play Bridget, the chubby, tart-tongued "singleton." Picking up where the 2001 hit left off, Bridget is disappointed just four weeks into her romance with Mark Darcy (Colin Firth). Bridget also finds her should-be-glamorous job as a TV correspondent to be a letdown, so she explores lesbian romance with a co-worker (Jacinda Barrett from MTV’s "Real World"). Hugh Grant and Jim Broadbent briefly reprise their original roles.

National Treasure (Nov. 19, Disney): Nicolas Cage stars as Ben Franklin Gates, an archaeologist/treasure hunter who’s looking for a chest of booty hidden during the Revolutionary War. Instead of a map, he relies on the Constitution, which is embedded with coded clues for those who know where to look. Harvey Keitel, Diane Kruger and Christopher Plummer co-star.