In hard economic times, people seek escape at the movies.

That was true during the Great Depression. Is it true now?

One might think so, judging by the box-office success of "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa," which has earned close to $120 million in the past two weeks, and "Quantum of Solace," which earned its license to thrill by collecting $68 million when it opened last weekend.

On the other hand, the partly made-in-Memphis, Stax-inspired comedy "Soul Men" and the big-budget Leonardo DiCaprio/Russell Crowe epic "Body of Lies" bombed.

So, to amend our opening sentence to state the obvious: In hard economic times, people seek escape at the movies, when movies are in theaters that they want to see. Duh!

The trick, of course, is trying to anticipate what movies people want to see.

Typically, the holiday season, from Thanksgiving to New Year's Day, is when the studios load cinemas with films they hope will be hits.

But Warner Bros. moved "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" from its original Nov. 21 opening to July 17. "Twilight," another film inspired by a best-selling supernatural book series, swooped into the gap. It's almost certain to be a smash; so is this weekend's new animated Disney film, "Bolt." The rest of the movie season, however, is a question mark.

Will moviegoers want to devote 163 minutes of their holiday vacation to watching Brad Pitt "age backwards" in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"? Or spend Dec. 25 with Richard Nixon?

Will people make time between Christmas leftovers for Tom Cruise in an eye patch and a Nazi uniform in "Valkyrie"?

Would they want to see "Punisher: War Zone" in any season?

We'll find out. Here are the movies scheduled to open in Memphis from Thanksgiving week to the end of the year. (As always, opening dates are subject to change.)

Wednesday:

"Four Christmases": A holiday-averse couple (Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon) is forced to visit all four of their divorced parental units (including Robert Duvall and Sissy Spacek) on Christmas Day.

"Australia": Or, "Gone with the 'Roo": An old-fashioned epic of love and war Down Under, with Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman, directed by Baz Luhrmann ("Moulin Rouge!").

"Transporter 3": You mean there was a "Transporter 2"? With Jason Statham.

Dec. 5

"Cadillac Records": Beyoncé is Etta James, Jeffrey Wright is Muddy Waters and Mos Def is Chuck Berry in this story of Chicago's famous Chess Records label.

"Nobel Son": Alan Rickman, Danny DeVito, a Nobel Prize for chemistry and a kidnapping are among the elements of all-star R-rated indie.

"Punisher: War Zone": Ray Stevenson (Titus Pullo from HBO's "Rome") fills the combat boots of Thomas Jane in this Marvel Comics brand-cheapening shoot-'em-up.

Dec. 12

"The Day the Earth Stood Still": Klaatu Barada Keanu. Keanu Reeves is an emissary from another planet in a megabudget remake of the 1951 classic.

"Nothing Like the Holidays": John Leguizamo and Debra Messing share a Puerto Rican Christmas.

"Delgo": "The land of Jhamora is torn apart by the mutual prejudice of two peoples -- the winged Nohrin, masters of the skies, and the terrestrial Lockni, who harness the mystical powers of the land." Urgh. The paycheck-cashing second-stringers providing the voices for this computer-animated fantasy from a new outfit, Fathom Studios, include Freddie Prinze Jr. and Burt Reynolds.

"Dark Streets": Gabriel Mann is a nightclub owner in 1930s New Orleans in a twisty indie thriller.

"Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer": An acclaimed documentary about the dynamic , heroin-addicted vocalist.

Dec. 19

"Seven Pounds": Will Smith re-teams with his "The Pursuit of Happyness" director for another heavy movie; this time, Smith plays a "suicidal, guilt-ridden" character who tries to uplift the lives of seven strangers.

"Yes Men": Jim Carrey is the guy who can't say no, he's in a terrible fix. He always says come on, let's go, just when he ought to say nix.

"The Tale of Despereaux": Last year, you had to learn to pronounce "Ratatouille," about a rat; this year, it's "Despereaux," a misfit computer-animated mouse (voiced by Matthew Broderick) in a fairy-tale kingdom.

Christmas Day

"Frost/Nixon": The Oscar-winning former Opie, Ron Howard, directs this drama about the 1977 TV confrontation between ex-President Nixon (Frank Langella) and British TV host David Frost (Michael Sheen).

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button": Brad Pitt is born old and becomes progressively younger in this version of an offbeat F. Scott Fitzgerald story. The director is David Fincher ("Fight Club," "Zodiac"), so this ought to be one of the season's more worthwhile movies.

"Doubt": Meryl Streep could earn her 12th Best Actress nomination for her portrayal of strict Sister Aloysius in this adaptation of John Patrick Shanley's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama about a priest (Philip Seymour Hoffman) accused of child molestation.

"Marley & Me": Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston learn about life from the lovable canine introduced to America in John Grogan's best-seller.

"Bedtime Stories": Irresponsible Adam Sandler discovers the stories his niece and nephew make up at night become true. So, if they can make it rain gumballs, can they make it rain money?

"The Spirit": Comic-book legend Frank Miller ("The Dark Knight Returns") brings the newspaper-comic crimefighter created by Will Eisner in 1940 to the big screen in a live-action film in the style of "Sin City." With Samuel L. Jackson as "The Octopus."

"Hurricane Season": High-school basketball coach Forest Whitaker assembles a team in post-Katrina Louisiana that includes Bow Wow.

"The Reader": Stephen Daldry ("The Hours") directs Kate Winslet in a tale of a law student in postwar Germany who begins a passionate affair with an older woman who is as devoted to the joy of books as to the joy of sex.

Dec. 26

"Valkyrie": Tom Cruise wants to assassinate Hitler in an epic suspense film from director Bryan Singer ("X-Men").

"Slumdog Millionaire": Critics have been heaping praise on this film from director Danny Boyle ("Trainspotting") about a Bombay street kid (Dev Patel) who becomes a game-show celebrity.

2009

Movies scheduled to open in Memphis in early 2009 include the much-publicized Mickey Rourke comeback, "The Wrestler"; the biopic "Milk," starring Sean Penn as gay San Francisco politician Harvey Milk; "I've Loved You So Long," a French film expected to bring Kristin Scott Thomas an Oscar nomination; "Gran Torino," the "You-kids-get-off-my-lawn!" movie from indefatigable star/director Clint Eastwood; Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in a period suburban domestic drama, "Revolutionary Road"; and "Defiance," with Daniel Craig as a Jewish resistance fighter in World War II. As for the made-in-Memphis journalism thriller, "Nothing But the Truth," it likely won't show up until February, or later.