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Record Heat!

The summer box office is burning up.

One record after another fell as 2004 gave us the first June in history to tally more than $1 billion at domestic box offices.

That record was powered by another record-setter: “Shrek 2” became the fastest movie to accumulate $250 million at the box office, accomplishing the feat in a blistering 13 days. That record fell to “Spider-Man 2,” which managed the task in a mere 12 days.

Don’t shed any green tears for the mighty ogre, though. As of this writing, “Shrek 2” was still the fastest to $300 million and the fastest to $400 million. Though Spidey was likely to put those records in jeopardy, “Shrek 2” should hold on to its new crown as top-grossing animated film ever for a good long time (at least until “The Incredibles” hits screens Nov. 5).

If all that record goodness wasn’t enough, by mid-July the summer box office was running 13 percent ahead of last summer’s record pace.

Though the big stars in the season’s big movies aren’t the only thing driving this season’s box office frenzy, they are what’s driving this season’s Next!

Cameron Diaz. Apart from an infinite number of “Shrek” sequels, “Shrek 2’s” distaff ogre reportedly turns up next in “Fun with Dick and Jane.” A remake of the 1977 comedy about a middle-class couple who resort to undertaking heists to pay their bills, it’s set to be directed by Barry Sonnenfeld (the “Men in Black” series, “Big Trouble”) from a screenplay by Judd Apatow (“Celtic Pride”), Nick Stoller and Ed Solomon (“The In-Laws,” “Charlie’s Angels,” “Men in Black”). Jim Carrey (“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”) co-stars. Sony sees it run June 24.

“In Her Shoes” is a comedy, based on the novel by Jennifer Weiner, about two sisters – one a feckless party-type and the other a disciplined attorney – and the grandmother neither of them knows. Curtis Hanson (“8 Mile”) directs from a screenplay by Susannah Grant (“Erin Brockovich”). Diaz plays the party girl, Toni Collette (“Connie & Carla”) the responsible sister and Shirley MacLaine (“The Evening Star”) the grandmother. Mark Feuerstein (“Abandon”), Brooke Smith (“Bad Company”) and Eric Balfour (“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”) co-star. Fox plans to slip it on sometime in 2005.

Eddie Murphy. Murphy is in line for another sequel, this one to his 2003 hit “Daddy Day Care.” Sony’s “Daddy Day Camp” is being scripted by Joel Cohen & Alec Sokolow (“Cheaper by the Dozen”), and still awaits a director, let alone a release date.

Mike Myers. He’s kicking back, taking it easy.

Bill Murray. Having essayed the voice of the tubby tabby in “Garfield: The Movie” (a tidy $64.2 million and counting), Murray reteams with his “Rushmore”-”Royal Tenenbaums” colleagues for “The Life Aquatic.” The comedy is about Steve Zissou, a vain, disreputable deep-sea oceanographer who takes his crew (and the pretty journalist he covets) on a hunt for the shark that lunched on Zissou’s longtime partner. Others returning from “Rushmore” and/or “Tenenbaums” include writer-director Wes Anderson and actors Owen Wilson (“Around the World in 80 Days”) and Anjelica Huston (“Daddy Day Care”). Non-vets of Anderson’s earlier films include screenwriter Noah Baumbach (“Mr. Jealousy”) as well as Jeff Goldblum (“Igby Goes Down”), Cate Blanchett (“Coffee and Cigarettes”), Willem Dafoe (“Spider-Man 2”), Noah Taylor (the “Lara Croft” series) and Bud Cort (“Made”). Buena Vista gets its feet wet Dec. 25.

“The Lost City,” a romance set during the Cuban Revolution, follows a Havana nightclub owner (“Ocean’s Eleven” vet Andy Garcia, who also directs) entangled in the events surrounding the fall of the Batista regime and the rise of Fidel Castro. Murray plays an American expatriate writer and friend of the club owner. Dustin Hoffman (“Runaway Jury,” “Finding Neverland,” “I Heart Huckabees”) stars as mobster Meyer Lansky, Jsu Garcia (“Along Came Polly”) as Che Guevara, and Gonzalo Menendez (“The First $20 Million Is Always the Hardest”) as Castro. Benjamin Bratt (“Catwoman”), Robert Duvall (“Secondhand Lions”), Tomas Milian (“Washington Heights”), Javier Bardem (“Collateral”), Isabella Rossellini (“The Saddest Music in the World”) and Ines Sastre (“Beyond the Clouds”) co-star.

Murray then picks up his coffee and cigarettes and sits down for a role in an “Untitled Jim Jarmusch” film. Nothing is known about it beyond the fact that it reteams two veterans of “Coffee and Cigarettes”: Murray and writer-director Jarmusch (“Dead Man,” “Ghost Dog”).

Nicole Kidman. Kidman shakes off the relatively disappointing box office of “The Stepford Wives” and gives us “Birth.” The drama, set in New York City, is about a thirtysomething woman who encounters a 10-year-old boy claiming to be the reincarnation of her late husband. Jonathan Glazer (“Sexy Beast”) directs from a screenplay by Glazer, Milo Addica (“Monster’s Ball”) and Jean-Claude Carrière (“Chinese Box”). Kidman’s co-stars include Cameron Bright (“The Butterfly Effect”), Danny Huston (“21 Grams”), Lauren Bacall (“Diamonds”) and Anne Heche (“John Q”). New Line is expecting it sometime this fall.

Sean Penn (“21 Grams”) joins Kidman in “The Interpreter.” It’s a political thriller about an FBI agent who finds himself keeping an eye on a U.N. translator who overheard talk of an assassination plot. Sydney Pollack (“Random Hearts”) directs from a screenplay by Scott Frank (“Minority Report”) and Charles Randolph (“The Life of David Gale”). Universal plans a February/Fevriér 18 release.

“Bewitched” finds Kidman in an update of the 1960s TV hit, but it’s not, as widely reported, a prequel to the TV series. It’s actually about a movie crew making a big-screen version of the TV show, and what happens when the producers cast a real witch as Samantha. Nora Ephron (“Hanging Up,” “You’ve Got Mail”) directs from a screenplay by Ephron and “Anchorman” writer-director Adam McKay. Will Ferrell (“Anchorman”) stars as the washed-up film actor playing ad-man Darrin, Shirley MacLaine as the actress playing Endora, Michael Caine (“The Statement”) as Kidman’s father, Joan Plowright (“Bringing Down the House”) as bumbling witch Aunt Clara, Steve Carell (“Anchorman”) as warlock Uncle Arthur, Broadway’s Kristin Chenoweth as Marie, Amy Sedaris (“Elf”) as nosy neighbor Gladys Kravitz and Jason Schwartzman (“Spun”) as a talent agent. Pompous know-it-all warlock Dr. Bombay was reportedly to be played by either Fred Willard or Kelsey Grammer. Sony is conjuring a July 8, 2005 release.

Kidman has also signed on for the role of va-va-voom secretary Ulla in the film version of the Broadway musical version of the film version of “The Producers.” The comedy is about a washed-up producer and his accountant, who realize it’s possible to make money by overselling shares in an unsuccessful play. The two set about staging a sure-fire flop with the worst actor, the worst director and the most offensive play imaginable – a musical titled “Springtime for Hitler.” Broadway director Susan Stroman is set to direct from a screenplay by Mel Brooks (“Dracula: Dead and Loving It,” “Spaceballs”) and Thomas Meehan (“Spaceballs”). Nathan Lane (“Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!”) and Matthew Broderick (“The Stepford Wives”) reprise their stage roles as producers Bialystock and Bloom, as do Gary Beach (“Man of the Century”) as director Roger De Bris, and Roger Bart (The Stepford Wives”) as his “common-law assistant” Carmen Ghia. Will Ferrell has signed on as “Springtime” playwright and pigeon fancier Franz Liebkind. Universal turn-turn-kick-turns it into theatres Dec. 21, 2005.

Will Ferrell. Speaking of Ferrell (and we have now, twice), the “Anchorman” star has a bevy of projects in view, most of which we have covered in earlier editions of Next!

Ferrell reteams with “Anchorman” scene-stealer Steve Carell for “Melinda and Melinda,” the latest from writer-director Woody Allen (“Anything Else”). Fox Searchlight expects it sometime in the fall. As usual with an Allen film, the plot is a closely guarded secret.

“The Wendell Baker Story” finds Ferrell in a comedy about a reformed con man who gets a job at a retirement center, where the residents help him win back his girlfriend. It has yet to secure domestic distribution.

Ferrell then hotfoots it to “Kicking and Screaming,” a comedy about a mild-mannered man who coaches his 10-year-old son’s soccer team, and what happens when he finds his players competing against a team coached by his own fiercely competitive father. Universal kicks it in May 13.

“Winter Passing” is a change of pace for Ferrell. The drama is about a young girl who visits her estranged novelist father after seven years and finds his home full of eccentric strangers. It also has no distributor.

Ferrell provides the voice of the Man in the Yellow Hat in “Curious George.” The animated comedy from Universal is on its way Nov. 4, 2005.

Tobey Maguire. “Spider-Man 3.” Sony. May 4, 2007.

Kirsten Dunst. In addition to the aforementioned “Spider-Man 3,” the Webbed Wonder’s favorite gal takes on “Wimbledon.” Read all about it here.

She follows up with “Elizabethtown,” a comedy about a man who, after losing his job and girlfriend, returns to his rural Kentucky hometown, where he falls for a flight attendant. Cameron Crowe (“Vanilla Sky,” “Almost Famous”) writes and directs. Dunst’s co-stars include Orlando Bloom (“Troy”), Alec Baldwin (“Along Came Polly”) Susan Sarandon (“Moonlight Mile”), Judy Greer (“The Village”) and Jessica Biel (“Texas Chainsaw Massacre”). Paramount has yet to set a release date.

Tom Hanks. His latest film wasn’t quite a blockbuster, but as far as his career is concerned it wasn’t terminal. His next, “The Polar Express,” pulls into theatres Nov. 19. The computer-generated fantasy drama is about a young boy who, after refusing to accept his friends’ arguments that Santa Claus does not exist, is rewarded by the arrival in front of his house of the Polar Express, a steam train that picks up true believers from all over the world on Christmas Eve and transports them to the North Pole to meet the Kringle himself. It’s based on the children’s book by Chris Van Allsburg (“Jumanji”) and directed by Robert Zemeckis (“What Lies Beneath,” “Cast Away”) from a screenplay by Malia Scotch (“Hook,” “Madeline”). Tom Hanks voices the express conductor. Andrew Ableson, Debbie Lee Carrington, Eddie Deezen, Josh Hutcherson, Chantel Valdivieso, Michael Jeter, Hayden McFarland, Peter Scolari and Chris Coppola also add their voices. Warner Bros. is punching the tickets.

“A Cold Case” is a crime drama, based on a true story, about a Manhattan district attorney’s investigator who solved the murder of a restaurant owner 30 years after the commission of the crime. It’s based on a New Yorker article by Philip Gourevitch. Mark Romanek (“One Hour Photo”) directs from a screenplay by Eric Roth (“Ali”). Hanks was reportedly set to play the lead.

In “The Risk Pool,” a thief and gambler (Hanks), is forced to care for his son when his estranged wife suffers a nervous breakdown. Lawrence Kasdan (“Dreamcatcher”) was set to direct from his own screenplay. It’s based on the novel by Richard Russo (“Nobody’s Fool”). Warner Bros. hasn’t announced a release date.

Catherine Zeta-Jones and Antonio Banderas. Hanks’ “Terminal” co-star Catherine Zeta-Jones returns to the role that made her a star. “Zorro 2” is set to be directed by Martin Campbell (“Beyond Borders,” “The Mask of Zorro”) from a screenplay by Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci (TV’s “Alias”). Antonio Banderas (“Shrek 2”) also reprises his role as the masked defender of the poor and oppressed in Old California. Sony plans to buckle its swash sometime in 2005.

Ben Stiller. “Dodgeball’s” Stiller can’t escape the popularity of his “Meet the Parents” role of Gaylord Focker. In “Meet The Fockers,” his new fiancée gets to endure his parents. Other returnees for this sequel to the 2000 blockbuster include director Jay Roach (“Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me”), screenwriters Jim Herzfeld (“Meet the Deedles”) and John Hamburg (“Along Came Polly”) and actors Robert De Niro (“Godsend”), Teri Polo (“Beyond Borders”) and Blythe Danner (“Sylvia”). Newcomers to the series include screenwriters Vince Di Meglio & Tim Rasmussen as well as actors Dustin Hoffman (“The Lost City”) as father Focker and Barbra Streisand (“The Mirror Has Two Faces”) as mother Focker. Universal plans a Dec. 22 release.

Stiller lends his voice to “Madagascar,” an animated feature about four zoo animals who, thanks to a shipwreck, end up in the wilds of the titular East African isle. Eric Darnell (“Antz”) and Conrad Vernon direct. Jason Alexander, Chris Rock and Madonna also add their voices. DreamWorks plans a May 27, 2005 release.

Hugh Jackman. The “Van Helsing” star returns to his highest-profile franchise for “X-Men 3.” Director Bryan Singer is expected to return, as are “X2” scribes Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris, and many previously cast as mutants, including Patrick Stewart. No word yet on a plot or other returnees, but it will be here nonetheless May 5, 2006.

Halle Berry. The “X2” cast member perhaps most likely to sit out the third installment of that franchise, the “Catwoman” star is due to lend her voice to “Robots.” The animated comedy, set in a world populated entirely by androids, is about a metal man who finds himself at odds with a corporate tyrant when he sets out to improve the planet. Chris Wedge (“Ice Age”) directs from a screenplay by Lowell Ganz & Babaloo Mandel (“50 First Dates”). It also features the voices of Ewan McGregor, Mel Brooks, Drew Carey, Jim Broadbent, Paul Giamatti, Stanley Tucci and Amanda Bynes. Fox automates it March 11.

Jake Gyllenhaal. “The Day After Tomorrow” star needn’t worry about where his next job is coming from: He’s got “Proof.” The drama is about a young woman who cares for her dying father, a brilliant but unbalanced math professor. It’s based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by David Auburn. John Madden (“Shakespeare in Love,” “Captain Corelli’s Mandolin”) directs from a screenplay by Rebecca Miller (“Personal Velocity”). Gwyneth Paltrow (“Sylvia,” “Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow”), Anthony Hopkins (“The Human Stain”) and Hope Davis (“American Splendor”) co-star. Miramax sends it out with the Christmas pudding Dec. 24.

“Brokeback Mountain” finds Gyllenhaal in a Western drama, set in 1963 Texas and Wyoming, about two male cowboys with families who face tough choices when they fall in love with each other. It’s based on a New Yorker story by Annie Proulx (“The Shipping News”). Ang Lee (“Ride With the Devil,” “Hulk“) directs from a screenplay by Larry McMurtry (“Falling From Grace”) and Diana Ossana. Heath Ledger (“Ned Kelly”), Anne Hathaway (“The Princess Diaries 2”), Linda Cardellini (“Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed”), Anna Faris (“Lost in Translation”), Michelle Williams (“The Station Agent”), Randy Quaid (“Grind”) and Scott Michael Campbell (“Hart’s War,” “The Flight of the Phoenix”) co-star. Focus plans to saddle it up sometime in 2005.

Will Smith. The “I, Robot” star is up next in “Shark Tale.” Learn more of the Oct. 1 release here.

“The Last First Kiss” is a romantic comedy about a young journalist who gets herself in a love bind when she sets out to prove a doctor’s (Smith) matchmaking business to be a scam. Andy Tennant (“Sweet Home Alabama”) directs from a screenplay by Jessica Bendinger (“The Truth About Charlie,” “First Daughter”), Kevin Bisch, Rick Parks (“Ever After”), Andy Tennant (“Ever After”) and Lowell Ganz & Babaloo Mandel (“Robots”). Amber Valletta (“Raising Helen”), Eva Mendes (“Stuck on You”), Julie Ann Emery (TV’s “Taken”) and Kevin James (“50 First Dates”) co-star. Sony puckers up Feb. 11.

Matt Damon. Damon was Bourne again this summer. Next, he reprises another role. “Ocean’s Twelve” is the follow up to Steven Soderbergh’s 2001 hit. In it, casino owner Terry Benedict contemplates vengeance as Danny Ocean masterminds new heists in Amsterdam, Paris and Rome. Damon’s fellow returnees include director Steven Soderbergh (“Solaris”) and actors Brad Pitt (Troy”), George Clooney (“Intolerable Cruelty”), Julia Roberts (“Mona Lisa Smile”), Don Cheadle (“The United States of Leland”), Andy Garcia (“The Lost City”), Casey Affleck (“Gerry”), Scott Caan (“Sonny”), Shaobo Qin, Carl Reiner (“The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle”) and Bernie Mac (“Bad Santa”). Newcomers to the franchise include screenwriter George Nolfi (“Timeline”) and actors Catherine Zeta-Jones (“Zorro 2”), Eddie Izzard (“The Cat’s Meow”), Jeroen Krabbe (“An Ideal Husband”) and Vincent Cassel (“Irreversible”). Warner Bros. is betting on a Dec. 10 release.

“Syriana” finds Damon in a spy drama set in the pre-Iraq War Middle East and directed by Stephen Gaghan (“Abandon”) from a screenplay by Gaghan (“The Alamo,” “Abandon”). It’s based on the book “See No Evil: The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA’s War on Terrorism” by Robert Baer. George Clooney plays Baer. Amanda Peet (“The Whole Ten Yards”) and Max Minghella co-star. Warner Bros. spies a July 29, 2005 release.

“The Brothers Grimm” features Damon as one half of the folklorist Grimm brothers in a thriller loosely based on their lives. In this telling, they wander from village to village pretending to eradicate “enchanted” creatures. Terry Gilliam (“Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”) directs from a screenplay by Ehren Kruger (“The Ring”). Damon and Heath Ledger (“Brokeback Mountain”) star with Jonathan Pryce (“Pirates of the Caribbean”), Lena Headey (“Possession”) and Peter Stormare (“Bad Boys II”). Miramax hopes to collect receipts happily ever after February.

Tom Cruise. After taking a darker turn as a hit man in “Collateral,” Cruise returns to his more heroic persona in the third outing of the “Mission: Impossible” franchise. Joe Carnahan (“Narc”) is set to direct “Mission: Impossible 3” from a screenplay co-written with Dean Georgaris (“Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life,” “Paycheck”) and Frank Darabont (“The Shawshank Redemption,” “The Green Mile”). In it, secret agent Ethan Hunt again finds himself deployed by the U.S. government’s top-secret Impossible Mission Force. Besides Cruise, returnees from parts one and two are expected to include actor Ving Rhames (“Dark Blue”). Newcomers include Eileen Atkins (“Vanity Fair”), Kenneth Branagh (“Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets”), Scarlett Johansson (“The Perfect Score”), Justin Kirk (“Teddy Bears’ Picnic”) and Carrie-Anne Moss (“The Matrix Revolutions,” “Suspect Zero”). Paramount plans to deploy it June 29, 2005.

Jamie Foxx. “Collateral’s” cab driver picks up his next fare in “Ray.” For more on this drama, based on the life of the late musician Ray Charles, go here.

“Stealth” finds Foxx in an actioner about a battle-savvy group of pilots on a mission to destroy a robotic craft. Rob Cohen (“XXX,” “The Fast and the Furious”) directs from a screenplay by Cohen and W.D. Richter (“Home for the Holidays,” “Needful Things,” “Big Trouble in Little China”). Josh Lucas (“Wonderland”), Jessica Biel (“Elizabethtown”), Sam Shepard (“The Notebook”) and Joe Morton (“Paycheck”) also star. Sony sneaks it July 29, 2005.

Keira Knightley. The “King Arthur” star (the one seen primarily in blue body paint and a woven leather halter top) bundles up next in “The Jacket.” The supernatural thriller is about a soldier convicted of murder who, during his treatment in a psychiatric hospital, begins to believe that he is traveling through time. Through his time travel, he searches for a woman he met as a child and is fated to love. John Maybury (“Love is the Devil”) directs from a screenplay by Marc Rocco (“Where the Day Takes You”) and Massy Tadjedin. Adrien Brody (“The Village”), Kris Kristofferson (“Blade II”), Jennifer Jason Leigh (“In the Cut,” “The Machinist”), Kelly Lynch (“Joe Somebody”), Mackenzie Phillips (TV’s “SoWeird”) and Brad Renfro (“Deuces Wild”) star. Warner Independent (WIP) releases it Feb. 4.

Matthew Macfadyen (“Enigma”) is Mr. Darcy opposite Knightley’s Elizabeth Bennet in “Pride and Prejudice.” The latest version of Jane Austen’s classic novel – about an opinionated but poor young woman and an arrogant but rich snob who overcome their initial dislike and fall in love – is set in England in the early 1800s. Joe Wright directs from a screenplay by Lee Hall (“Billy Elliot”) and Deborah Moggach. Rosamund Pike (“Die Another Day”), Jena Malone (“Saved!”) and Talulah Riley co-star as three of the four Bennet sisters. Judi Dench (she’s “Riddick”-ulously hot!), Donald Sutherland (“Cold Mountain”), Brenda Blethyn (“Sonny”), Tom Hollander (“Possession”) and Penelope Wilton (“Calendar Girls”) also star. Universal plans a 2005 release.

Knightley is also set to reprise her role as Elizabeth Swann in the sequels to her 2003 hit “Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl.” “Pirates of The Caribbean 2” and “3” are set to film back to back. Director Gore Verbinski is expected to return as are screenwriters Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio (“Shrek”) and actors Johnny Depp (as Captain Jack Sparrow) and Orlando Bloom (as Will Turner). Newcomers reportedly include Depp’s inspiration for the character, rocker Keith Richards (or “Keif” as we like to say), as Sparrow’s father. The second installment is expected in the summer of 2006.

Adrien Brody. In addition to “The Jacket,” the “Village” star goes ape for “King Kong.” This Kong revisits the 1930s (after a disastrous detour to 1976) when the giant simian from the jungles of darkest Africa is captured and displayed in New York. The”Lord of the Rings” team of writer-director Peter Jackson and screenwriters Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens reunite. Naomi Watts (“21 Grams,” “We Don’t Live Here Anymore,” “I Heart Huckabees”), Brody and Jack Black (“Envy”) play the three human leads. Kyle Chandler (“Mulholland Falls”), Colin Hanks (“Orange County”) and Thomas Kretschmann (“The Pianist”) lend support. Andy Serkis (“13 Going on 30,” the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy) plays both the title character (rendered this time, no doubt, with Kiwi CG expertise) and Lumpy the Cook. When Universal’s Kong dies, everybody cries Dec. 14, 2005.

Denzel Washington. Benicio Del Toro is set to co-star with the “Manchurian Candidate” star as Detective Richie Roberts, who pursued Frank Lucas (Washington), the biggest drug dealer in New York’s Harlem in the 1970s. “Tru Blu” is directed by Antoine Fuqua (“King Arthur”) from a screenplay by Steve Zaillian (“Gangs of New York”). It’s based on a New York Magazine article by Mark Jacobson. Universal plans a Feb. 18 bow.

Meryl Streep. “Manchurian” mom Streep turns up next in “Lemony Snicket’s A Series Of Unfortunate Events.” The adventure – about three orphans who are taken in by Count Olaf, a relative anxious to separate the children from an undisclosed fortune – is based on the wildly popular book series by Daniel Handler (“Watch Your Mouth”). Brad Silberling (“Moonlight Mile”) directs from a screenplay by Handler. Jim Carrey (“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”) stars as Count Olaf, Streep as Justice Strauss, Jude Law (“Cold Mountain,” “Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow”) as Lemony Snicket, Emily Browning (“Darkness Falls”) as Violet Baudelaire and Liam Aiken (“Good Boy!”) as Klaus Baudelaire. Paramount has set Dec. 17 for the release.

“Prime” centers on a neurotic, yet successful, thirtysomething woman who unwittingly falls for the twentysomething son of her therapist. Sandra Bullock (“Two Weeks Notice”) and Streep were set to star. Ben Younger (“Boiler Room”) was set to direct from his own screenplay. Universal plans a 2005 release.

The long-delayed “Flora Plum” is set to co-star Streep. The drama, set in the 1930s, is about a man who makes his living as a circus freak, and the waif he falls for. Jodie Foster (“Home for the Holidays”) was set to direct from a screenplay by Steven Rogers (“Kate & Leopold,” “Stepmom,” “Hope Floats”). Claire Danes (“Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,” “Stage Beauty”) and Ewan McGregor (“Young Adam”) were set to star. Paramount was reportedly picking 2005 as ripe for the release.

Vin Diesel. “Riddick” star Diesel is up next in “The Pacifier,” a comic actioner about a disgraced former Navy SEAL hired to protect the children of a dead government scientist – and the top secret project still hidden in their home. Adam Shankman (“Bringing Down the House”) directs from a screenplay by Scott Alexander (“Agent Cody Banks”) and Robert Ben. Lauren Graham (“Bad Santa”), Faith Ford (“North”), Brittany Snow (TV’s “American Dreams”), Brad Garrett (“Garfield: The Movie”) and Carol Kane (“Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen”) co-star. Buena Vista has yet to set a release date.