When a cab driver (Johnson) picks up an unusual fare — a brother and sister duo with paranormal powers, who are being pursued by a nefarious organization — he teams up with a discredited astrophysicist (Gugino) to protect the kids and, ultimately, the rest of humankind.

Original Witch Mountain stars Kim Richards and Ike Eisenmann are on board for Disney’s redo of enduring and still-kinda-scary 1975 family movie, but how far will Disney in their attempt to preserve the story’s integrity? Rather far, it seems, if the footage we saw at Comic-Con is any indication. Director Andy Fickman is looking to make his first break from his more-cushy films (She’s the Man, The Game Plan) by picking up the mythology 30 years after the first film was set. Will it be PG or PG-13, people are asking, but when you have AnnaSophia Robb aboard, co-star of the “Hard PG” Bridge to Terabithia, I think Fickman and Disney are up to something special here.

Rated PG for sequences of action and violence, frightening and dangerous situations, and some thematic elements.

Director: Andy Fickman
Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Carla Gugino, AnnaSophia Robb
Studio: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Release Date: 13 March 2009 (USA)
Genre: Adventure | Comedy | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Shawn Colfax (Nicholas D’Agosto) and Nick Brady (Eric Christian Olsen), the stars of the Gerald R. Ford High School football team, are dreading the prospect of another summer at football camp. After Nick hatches a scheme for the two to join their schools cheerleaders at cheer camp instead, they find themselves awash in a sea of gorgeous young women. The guys are having the time of their lives until Shawn falls for Carly (Sarah Roemer), the beautiful head cheerleader who is very suspicious of their motives. To win Carly over, the boys must come up with some surprising new moves to prove Shawns intentions before the all-important cheer competition finals.

FU mastermind Will Gluck is, in a way, a sort of charmed prince: Despite having a say in a trio of failed TV shows (most recent attempt: “The Loop”) he was able to parlay his small-screen efforts into a feature-film career — this boy-perspective Bring It On copycat is the first in a Screen Gems planned series of Gluck-y sex comedies, and my fingers are crossed that he takes on Easy A next. Meanwhile, let’s all hope that 31-year-old Eric Christian Olsen’s high-school years will officially be behind him after he gets the inevitable girl here.

Rated PG-13 for crude and sexual content throughout, partial nudity, language and some teen partying.

Director: Will Gluck
Stars: Eric Christian Olsen, Nicholas D’Agosto, Sarah Roemer
Studio: Screen Gems
Release Date: 20 February 2009 (USA)

When Madea’s (Perry) trouble-making antics land her behind bars, among the cast of characters she meets is Candy (Pulliam), a prostitute whose life is off-track and in need of the type of tough love that only Madea can provide.At long last, Madea returns to the big screen in TYLER PERRY’S MADEA GOES TO JAIL. This time America’s favorite irreverent, pistol-packin’ grandmomma is raising hell behind bars and lobbying for her freedom!

After a high-speed freeway chase puts Madea (TYLER PERRY) in front of the judge, her reprieve is short-lived as anger management issues get the best of her and land her in jail. A gleeful Joe (TYLER PERRY) couldn’t be happier at Madea’s misfortune. But Madea’s eccentric family members the Browns (DAVID and TAMALA MANN) rally behind her, lending their special “country” brand of support.

Meanwhile, Assistant District Attorney Joshua Hardaway (DEREK LUKE) is on the fast track to career success. But Hardaway lands a case too personal to handle – defending young prostitute and former drug addict Candace Washington (KEISHA KNIGHT PULLIAM) – and asks his fiancée and fellow ADA Linda Holmes (ION OVERMAN) to fill in on his behalf. When Candace ends up in jail, Madea befriends the young woman, protecting her in a “motherly” way as only Madea can.

Though you can buy the stage version of this story on DVD at your grocery store, something tells me Tyler Perry is going to experience his biggest success here, since he’s back in hysteria-comedy mode (and in drags), with a fully grown Rudy Huxtable playing a streetwalker in the clink.

Rated PG-13 for mature thematic material, drug content, some violence and sexual situations.

Director: Tyler Perry
Stars: Tyler Perry, Keshia Knight Pulliam, Derek Luke
Studio: Lionsgate
Release Date: 20 February 2009 (USA)

Based on the books “Confessions of a Shopaholic” and “Shopaholic Takes Manhattan” by Sophie Kinsella. Rebecca Bloomwood (Isla Fisher) is a 25 year old who lives with her best friend Suze (Krysten Ritter) in Suze’s flat (paying her friend rent that is well below market value), in a trendy part of town. Rebecca has a very boring job writing for a financial magazine. She has a shopping addiction and her crap job doesn’t pay enough. Her bills are piling up, so she tries cutting back (complete fiasco), then she tries making more money (another fiasco). Eventually, Becky discovers a story that she is truly invested in. Exposing the story gets the attention of a colleague that she hasn’t quite figured out yet. Some drama ensues as she snags the guy, and she attempts to pay off her ever-growing debt.

It’s a chick-lit showdown this month, with Isla Fisher in Shopaholic and a clutch of serious contenders that is the principal cast of He’s Just Not That Into You. We love an underdog, especially one as otherworldly beautiful as Ms. Fisher (when will she and Sacha Baron Cohen tie the knot?), but Shopaholic descends from the massively popular novels by real-life financial journalist Madeleine Wickham (pen name: Sophie Kinsella), whose Undomestic Goddess is being developed by Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal. The trailer is a bit of a puzzle — as in, just because someone is good at slapstick, that doesn’t mean you have to incorporate it into your script. Also, we can’t tell if the tone is supposed to be highbrow, low, or just kinda all over the place.

Rated PG for some mild language and thematic elements.

Director: P.J. Hogan
Stars: Isla Fisher, Hugh Dancy, Krysten Ritter
Studio: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Release Date: 13 February 2009 (USA)

It’s the Halloween party they’ve all been waiting for, to have fun with friends and hang out with fellow Star Wars fans and partners in crime. However, events take a turn when one of their bunch who long ago outgrew his old gang and took on adult responsibilities is suddenly in their midst again. Reconnecting is not easy. But soon, Eric, Windows, Hutch and Zoe realize that Linus will not live long enough to experience what’s been on their minds for ages: The long-awaited theatrical release of Star Wars – Episode I, which is still several months away. Linus once again suggests to his friends what he’s been scheming since fifth grade: Breaking into Skywalker Ranch, this time to steal a print of the movie. Crazy, right? But it might be the only way for Linus to see the movie before he dies. So as insane as it sounds, they take Hutch’s van and embark on a mission to drive across half the country to the Ranch.

Here’s the trailer. Director Kyle Newman’s comedy, which traveled a bumpy road to its theatrical release, restores a sense of nostalgia — we just wish it traveled all the way back to those halcyon days before the Star Wars episodes were renumbered and Jar Jar Binks was under wraps at Skywalker Ranch. Still, you have to hand it to the real-world fanboys and girls who lobbied Harvey Weinstein until the big softie agreed to release Newman’s cut of the film. If I were being called “Darth Weinstein” for stripping a film of its context, I’d probably cave after a few rounds with the Faithful, too …

Rated PG-13 for pervasive crude and sexual material, language and drug content.

Director: Kyle Newman
Stars: Dan Fogler, Jay Baruchel, Kristen Bell
Studio: Weinstein Company, The
Release Date: 13 February 2009 (Iceland)