VARIOUS: Hollywood takes on a "Western" theme as the fall box office season gets ready for a "shoot-out"

Hollywood is looking to follow up its record breaking summer at the box office with a fall season ripe with Oscar hopefuls and something for everyone. Get out the Oscar scorecards because next week Hollywood launches its new movie season, with a typical fall mix of adult dramas dealing with more serious topics than this past summer's popcorn flicks. Movies like the western "3:10 to Yuma," starring Russell Crowe and Christian Bale, and "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" with Brad Pitt aspire to be early frontrunners in the race for Oscars, the world's top film honors, which are given out in winter by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Paul Dergarabedian, president of the box office tracking firm Media By Numbers explains the age-old appeal of the western. "I think the important thing with these westerns is to have big names in them to draw on audiences who wouldn't ordinarily go to a western but will go because Christian Bale and Russell Crowe are in "3:10 To Yuma," and because Brad Pitt is in "The Assassination of Jesse James." So that star power certainly helps broadening the appeal of a very specific genre like the western." If political intrigue with a dash of danger appeals, there's always the sober minded "Rendition," starring Reese Witherspoon as a pregnant Midwestern woman who discovers that her Egyptian husband is being secretly held by the U.S. government. Another post 9/11 generated thriller is "The Kingdom," starring Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Garner as FBI agents sent to Saudi Arabia to investigate a bombing, sparking a culture clash between mid-East and Western ideology. "War films though, they come and go, again this is a very specific genre, but they're always there, I mean "Saving Private Ryan" is really kind of a gold standard, and these films, again like the western are very narrow in their appeal, but with the right stars in them they can cross over and do extremely well," says Dergarabedian. For those looking for a period piece, they can always turn to "Elizabeth: The Golden Age," starring Cate Blanchette. Finally, major stars Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe, both best actor Oscar winners, appear together in action thriller "American Gangster." More Oscar winners pop up, as George Clooney, who scored an awards hit in 2005 with "Good Night, and Good Luck," is back with "Michael Clayton," playing a man hired by a law firm to straighten out an attorney drawn into a conspiracy. "So hopefully the record breaking summer portends a very strong fall, there's a great mix of films, again it's a different type of season than the summer season. There is a lot of quality out there, a lot of big name actors and that combinations should prove to be very effective at the box office." If comedy is your game -- don't despair -- there's Be Stiller's "The Heartbreak Kid" from comedy writing and directing brothers Peter and Bobby Farrelly, who were behind Stiller's 1998 hit "There's Something About Mary." "The Heartbreak Kid" follows a man pursuing the woman of his dreams while on his honeymoon, and is filled with off-color jokes, strange sex and other Farrelly brother hallmarks. Yes, it is fall in Hollywood, and the Oscar race is on.

ITN Source | August 30, 2007

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