Studio executives hope they've trained their audience well as the season of summer blockbusters arrives.

From May through mid-August, Hollywood will bank on the idea that there is at least one movie every week -- and sometimes two -- that you simply must see.

Summer features such box-office staples as Will Smith, Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller and Jack Black, and brings back beloved characters such as Indiana Jones, Batman, Carrie and her "Sex and the City" gal pals, the "Narnia" kids, the Incredible Hulk and two very different agent couples: paranormal troupers Mulder and Scully and comic spies Maxwell Smart and Agent 99.

Here's a look at the summer movie season:

Thursday:

"Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" -- Cue the Indy fanfare. Henry Jones Jr. is cracking his whip again. The fourth installment of the "Indy" franchise reunites the dream team of Harrison Ford as the archaeologist-adventurer, director Steven Spielberg and creator-producer George Lucas.

It's been 19 years since the last movie, and the new film hurtles the aging Indy from his Nazi-fighting days of the 1930s to the Cold War era of the '50s, with Cate Blanchett as a Soviet operative and Karen Allen returning as Marion Ravenwood, his love interest from 1981's "Raiders of the Ark." Unlike film franchises that crank up the action and effects with each sequel, Spielberg, Lucas and Ford are offering an old-school Indy.

"We did everything exactly the way we did it before, so if you expect F-14s flying into freeways, it ain't gonna happen," Lucas said. "If you expect this to suddenly have bells and whistles and have 10 times more whatever than the first ones, it's not. It's just like a continuation. It's like sitting down on a cozy old sofa that you've had for 20 years and having the same experience."

What sort of toll did the action take on 65-year-old Ford, who sustained knee and back injuries on some of the earlier "Indiana Jones" movies?

"I broke a fingernail," Ford said.

As for the big question fans have posed -- is co-star Shia LaBeouf the love child of Indy and Marion? -- neither Ford nor Lucas will say.

"I can't say that. I'm not allowed. Steven would kill me. You'll have to get that out of Steven," Lucas said. "If you get it out of him, then it must be true."

"Roman de Gare" -- French thriller by Claude Lelouch about a man and woman and the novelist who brings their story to life.

"United Artists 90th Anniversary Film Festival" -- From "West Side Story" to "Dr. No" and "Midnight Cowboy," this one-week festival at the Ken Cinema in San Diego features some of the Hollywood studio's best films of the past near-century.

May 30:

"Sex and the City" -- Is "Monogamy and the City" as much fun?

When we last saw "Sex and the City" stars Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon, their TV characters were settling down and seemingly leaving behind their randy ways.

The movie reunites the four with co-star Chris Noth as Big, the on-again, off-again beau of Parker's Carrie, with whom she finally wound up as the series ended four years ago.

While the movie maintains the show's cheeky humor and ribald conversation, it's not a sex romp but a story about women dealing with commitment, family and all the issues of growing older, Parker said. Newcomer Jennifer Hudson, as author Carrie's young assistant, helps contrast where the characters are now with where they were then.

"Carrie looks at her and says 'Wow, I was that girl. I came to the city looking for love. I believed in all the promise and potential that New York offered,"' Parker said. "It's not like a slumber party in sweats, anymore. It's about the beauty and heartache of getting older. It doesn't mean you're old. It just means things have a different value than when you were in your 20s."

"The Strangers" -- Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman go off to a hideaway and encounter terrifying things.

"The Fall" -- A young girl recovering in a 1920s hospital strikes up a friendship with an older man who tells her stories.

"Surfwise" -- Documentary on 1960s American doctor who abandoned his practice to take his wife and nine children on the road in their RV to live out a decadeslong, international utopian lifestyle.

"The Children of Huang Shi" -- Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Radha Mitchell and Chow Yun Fat star in this fact-based drama about an English journalist and Chinese partisans who rescue 60 orphans in a harrowing cross-country journey through war-torn 1930s China.

June 6:

"You Don't Mess With the Zohan" -- Co-written by Sandler and Judd Apatow ("Knocked Up"), Sandler stars as an Israeli commando who pretends he's been killed so he can become a New York City hairdresser.

"Kung Fu Panda" -- This animated family film features the voice of Jack Black as tubby Po, a panda stuck working at his family's noodle shop when he's tapped to train as a martial arts master and battle an evil snow leopard threatening the land. Voice cast includes Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu and Seth Rogen.

"Stuck" -- Based on a true story, a woman (Mena Suvari) hits a man (Stephen Rea) with her car and he becomes caught in her windshield. Should she save him or let him die and avoid the bump in insurance?

"The Foot Fist Way" -- A martial arts instructor finds his life falling apart in this indie sensation.

"Fugitive Pieces" -- Based on the bestselling novel, Stephen Dillane stars in this tale of a Polish war orphan who struggles to find love after emigrating to Canada after World War II.

"Reprise" -- Time-bending Norwegian drama about two novelists -- a mentor and his student -- whose careers go in different directions.

"Bigger, Stronger, Faster" -- Documentary on American athletes and steroids.

"Jellyfish" -- The lives of three women of very different backgrounds and social status intersect at a wedding in Tel Aviv.

June 13:

"The Incredible Hulk" -- Edward Norton stars in this live-action film about Marvel comic book superhero Bruce Banner, who transforms from a man into a green-skinned, crime-fighting hulk when he gets angry. "This is not an origin story," says producer Kevin Feige of Marvel Studios. "We are assuming everyone buying a ticket will know Bruce Banner is a scientist on the run who grows into a green hulk 9 feet tall. That's all people need to know. So the adventure is off and running right from the beginning."

"The Promotion" -- John C. Reilly and Seann William Scott play assistant managers of a grocery store who compete for a bigger job.

"The Happening" -- Mark Wahlberg takes his family on the run from a disaster in the latest from M. Night Shyamalan ("Signs").

"When Did You Last See Your Father?" -- Colin Firth and Jim Broadbent co-star in story of a man coming to terms with the imminent death of his beloved father.

"The Animation Show 4" -- All-new collection of independent animated shorts.

June 20:

"Get Smart" -- Taking on the character created for1960s television by Don Adams, Steve Carell plays bumbling spy Max as a desk jockey finally promoted to field work, paired with veteran operative Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway) as they try to stop a doomsday scenario by the KAOS crime boss (Terence Stamp). Dwayne Johnson co-stars as the superstar agent Max idolizes.

"I'm not sure we actually succeed as a spoof," Hathaway said. "I think we're more silly. We're not lampooning the genre. We just have a lighter take on it."

"What about a comedic 'Bourne Identity?' You take the action in that and you make it a legitimate spy movie that's funny, as opposed to taking the cliches of spy movies and turning them on their heads," Carell said. "If the villains are like Terence Stamp, these guys are scary and actually have some threat to them. There's some sense of jeopardy. The comedy laid on top of that might resonate more."

"The Love Guru" -- Mike Myers plays an American raised abroad by mystics who returns home to start his own guru business. With Jessica Alba and Justin Timberlake.

"Mongol" -- This Russian epic follows Genghis Khan from childhood to world conqueror.

"The Rape of Europa" -- Documentary on Hitler's large-scale theft of European art.

"Quid Pro Quo" -- A disabled reporter falls for a woman who wishes she was in a wheelchair.

Up the Yangtze" -- Documentary on the rapid industrial transformation of China's main waterway.

June 27:

"Wall-E" -- Pixar-Disney's latest digitial animation collaboration is the tale of a janitorial robot toiling away for centuries because no one remembered to turn him off after humanity trashes Earth to the point that the planet must be abandoned.

"I thought it was the saddest character in the world, this poor little guy that doesn't know it can stop what it's doing," said writer-director Andrew Stanton ("Finding Nemo"). "It's the ultimate definition of futility. Machine or not, you have to be asking yourself, 'Does what I'm doing mean anything at all?' "

"Wanted" -- A young man (James McAvoy) is recruited to become an assassin. Also stars Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman.

"Brick Lane" -- Bangladeshi woman struggles in an arranged marriage with an older immigrant in 1980s London.

"Finding Amanda" -- Matthew Broderick stars as a compulsive gambler on a road trip to find his wild niece in Vegas.

'Tell No One" -- French thriller about a widower who discovers troubling new clues to his wife's long-unsolved murder.

"Mother of Tears" -- Italian horror thriller about a long-dead ancient witch who's revived to wreak havoc on Rome.

July 2:

"Hancock" -- Will Smith is known as the king of Fourth of July weekend (thanks to past blockbuster releases "Independence Day" and "Men in Black." This year, he aims to dominate it again with "Hancock," which co-stars Charlize Theron in the tale of a churlish superhero with real problems like the rest of us.

"It's the very authentic version of an alcoholic superhero," Smith said. "You will scream laughing, then there's some dramatic turns that just leave your jaw dropping. Huge special effects. It is all things."

"Kit Kittredge: An American Girl" -- Abigail Breslin stars as a resourceful 10-year-old.

July 4:

"Encounters at the End of the World" -- Director Werner Herzog travels to the Antarctic to study the people crazy enough to live there.

"Gonzo: The Life Work of Dr. Huner S. Thompson" -- Documentary on the late, hard-living journalist.

"Savage Grace" -- Julianne Moore stores in this fact-based drama about murder, sex and money in the family behind the Bakelite plastics fortune.

July 11:

"Journey to the Center of the Earth 3-D" -- Brendan Fraser finally offers scientific proof that there is an albino dinosaur at the Earth's core -- and he does it in 3-D. A modern twist on Jules Verne's classic tale presented entirely in three-dimensional digital video that practically sets the characters and effects in the audience's lap.

Gimmicky old 3-D films "made the brain and eyeballs do calisthenics. Frankly, it made you feel kind of queasy and ill," Fraser said. "This allows you to live in the environment that the actors inhabit."

"Meet Dave" -- Eddie Murphy stars as the leader of a group of tiny aliens scouting Earth because their own race is endangered. They blend in with humanity by tooling about in a ship that looks just like Eddie Murphy.

"He's robotic and not quite in control of his form, his human form," said co-star Elizabeth Banks. "Eddie's performance, he has a lot of naivete about the world around him. He comes off as being extremely strange and odd, and that naivete translates very nicely into charm."

"Hellboy II: The Golden Army" -- Ron Perlman returns as the demon hero, this time charged with fighting a mythical army. Directed by Guillermo del Toro.

"The Wackness" -- A teen pot dealer (Josh Peck) forms a friendship with a psychiatrist (Ben Kingsley).

"Elsa and Fred" -- Aging Italian widowers visit Rome's Trevi Fountain and rekindle their old passion.

"Tuya's Marriage" -- A Mongolian sheepherder's wife strikes out on her own.

July 18:

"The Dark Knight" -- Batman is back. Christian Bale reunites with director Christopher Nolan in pitting the soul-searching crimefighter against his greatest enemy, the Joker, played by the late Heath Ledger in his next-to-last role.

With great buzz on Ledger's frantic performance and his demonic makeup, the Joker is the corrupted flip side of Batman, who lives by a strict code despite raging inner turmoil.

"It's a fine line, something which we kind of toy with in the story, of this fine line, essentially both being freaks to most people, both being idealists," Bale said. "The Joker trying to show the hypocrisy of society and trying to show Batman that his way just ultimately can't work. These rules that he places on himself are just a joke."

"Mamma Mia!" -- Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnan star in this adaptation of the ABBA-based stage musical.

"Space Chimps" -- The Oscar race starts here. A slacker chimp (voice of Andy Samberg) blasts off into space with two fellow chimp astronauts and ends up having to save a planet in peril. Sweet.

"The Edge of Heaven" -- Turkish immigrant searches for healing and reconciliation with a political activist in Germany.

July 25:

"The X-Files: I Want to Believe" -- Writer-director Chris Carter once again reunites the stars of his TV series, David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, for the second big-screen adventure of Mulder and Scully, FBI agents who chase aliens and supernatural phenomena. Carter's keeping the story under wraps other than to say it's an earthbound tale "within the realm of extreme scientific possibility."

"It takes into consideration that the characters have grown or aged or progressed in the six years since we last saw them," Carter said. "I think we are true to everything that the characters have experienced not just in the last six years, but over the course of the television show."

"Step Brothers" -- Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly play spoiled step-brothers competing against one another.

"The Longshots" -- Based on a true story, a small town comes together behind its Pop Warner football team with a female quarterback.

"Brideshead Revisited" -- Emma Thompson and Matthew Goode star in this story of a captain stationed at a castle during World War II.

"CSNY Deja Vu" -- Musical documentary on Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young's 2006 "Freedom of Speech" tour.

"Chris & Don: A Love Story" -- Documentary on the 30-year love story of novelist Christopher Isherwood ("The Berlin Stories") and artist Don Bachardy.

Aug. 1:

"The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" -- Brendan Fraser stars in the fourth installment of the "Mummy" film franchise, this time co-starring Maria Bello (replacing Rachel Weisz as Fraser's British wife). In this sequel, the couple come out of bored retirement to join their grown-up son on a dig in China, where they end up battling an ancient ruler (Jet Li) who springs back to life aiming to conquer the world.

Director Rob Cohen said it was not necessarily a hindrance that Weisz decided against returning.

"The truth is, I was happy to have a new opportunity to bring something different to the movie, so that you really have a sense of freshness," Cohen said. "I thought, Brendan will be more on his toes with a new actor, and Maria threw him as much new stuff as anyone could."

"Henry Poole Is Here" -- Luke Wilson plays a man who wants to hide from the world, but the world won't let him be.

"The Rocker" -- A washed-up drummer (Rainn Wilson) gets a second chance in life when he joins his nephew's band.

"Swing Vote" -- The result of a presidential election comes down to Kevin Costner's vote. Topical, and absurd.

"Midnight Meat Train" -- A New York photographer (Bradley Cooper) hunts down a late-night subway serial killer.

"Baghead" -- Dark comedy about six actors who find more than laughs when they try to write a script together in a woodsy cabin.

"The Last Mistress" -- French drama about an impoverished French aristocrat torn between two women, one rich and one poor.

Aug. 8:

"The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2" -- America Ferrera, Amber Tamblyn, Alexis Bledel and Blake Lively are back as the gal pals who like to share a magical pair of hand-me-down jeans. Three years have passed, they've just finished their first year of college, and "we kind of come back together to realize everyone's growing in a lot of different directions," Bledel said. "It's about the four of us finding our unique selves but finding a way to keep this relationship that means so much to us."

"I'm sure that young girls really appreciate seeing fun female relationships like this that aren't competitive or kind of just sidebars to male stories," added Ferrera.

"The Pineapple Express" -- Stoners Seth Rogen and James Franco find themselves on the run from bad guys and a crooked cop.

"American Teen" -- A documentary following the lives of five very different teens during their senior year of high school in a small town.

"Hell Ride" -- Dennis Hopper, Michael Madsen, Eric Balfour and Vinnie Jones star in a story of biker bad boys.

"Fly Me to the Moon" -- Three flies try to hitch a ride to the moon along with Apollo 11 in this 3-D animation effort.

"Frozen River" -- Poor American Indian woman becomes an illegal immigrant smuggler to make money.

"A Jihad for Love" -- Documentary on eight gay Muslims.

Aug. 15:

"Tropic Thunder" -- Co-writer/director/star Ben Stiller heads this comedy about pampered, hapless actors who go to make a Vietnam War movie and got caught in a real battle. Co-stars include Robert Downey Jr. as a white actor portraying a black character with insanely serious devotion and Tom Cruise as a bald, raving studio boss with hilarious dance moves.

"The movie's kind of taking off on actors who obviously have to take it seriously when doing these films, and you see these interviews where they talk about the experience as if they've been in a real war," Stiller said. "I think it's very easy to see the humor in that."

"Mirrors" -- Kiefer Sutherland stars as a security guard who discovers a department store's mirrors have spooky powers.

"The Clone Wars" -- Animated adaptation of the "Star Wars" sequel with new characters and storylines.

"Towelhead" -- A 13-year-old Arab girl struggles after being sent to live in Houston in this controversial indie film.

"Water Lilies" -- Teen angst and first love blossom among the members of a French synchronized swim team.

Aug. 22:

"Bangkok Dangerous" -- Nicolas Cage plays an assassin who starts to question his career choice while in Thailand.

"The Accidental Husband" -- Uma Thurman is about to marry Colin Firth when she finds out she is already married -- via a prank -- to Jeffrey Dean Morgan.

"Crossing Over" -- Harrison Ford, Ashley Judd and Sean Penn star in this film about immigrants moving to Los Angeles.

"Hamlet 2" -- Steve Coogan plays a drama teacher hoping to take his sequel to "Hamlet" to the stage.

"Death Race" -- Jason Statham and Joan Allen star in this sci-fi fantasy about New York prison inmates battling it out on TV in the year 2020.

"House Bunny" -- Anna Faris plays a former Playboy bunny who teaches a sorority about sex.

"Boy A" -- A young man imprisoned since childhood for murder is released at age 24 and must find his way back into society.

Aug. 29:

"Traitor" -- FBI agent Guy Pearce is on the trail of possible rogue spy Don Cheadle in this international thriller.

"Babylon A.D." -- Vin Diesel is a mercenary hired to transport a woman from post-apocalyptic Eastern Europe to New York.

"Vicky Christine Barcelona" -- Who knows? It's Woody Allen's next film, starring Penelope Cruz and Scarlett Johansson.

Sept. 5:

"Amusement" -- Horror thriller about a woman recounting three scary tales about a clown, a hotel and a convoy.

Undated summer releases:

"Religulous" -- Director Larry Charles ("Borat") studies the world's religions with Bill Maher. Shouldn't be sarcastic at all.

"The International" -- Interpol agent Clive Owen and district attorney Naomi Watts team up to bring down corrupt bankers.

"Wild Child" -- A spoiled L.A. girl (Emma Roberts) is shipped off to a British boarding school.