Talking animals, creepy dolls, super-villains and the always-popular alcoholic sports coach are coming to theaters this winter to keep moviegoers _ and the box office _ nice and toasty.
Falling between the autumn rush of Oscar hopefuls and the summer blockbuster bonanza, the winter movie season is always a mixed bag. This year you can expect a generous helping of horror _ from a spooky-looking "Gretel & Hansel" to a modernized "The Invisible Man" _ along with such family fare as "Doolittle," starring Robert Downey Jr. as an animal-conversant veterinarian. Margot Robbie's popular antihero Harley Quinn will take the lead role in "Birds of Prey," while Ben Affleck will play the aforementioned coach in "The Way Back."
Probably the season's most buzzed-about release is "Mulan," Disney's live-action remake of its animated 1998 film. The original film is considered a landmark for featuring an Asian heroine _ a rarity in the Disney canon _ who poses as a boy to fight a horde of Huns. Trailers for the new version suggest a lavish action-spectacle along the lines of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" with direction by Niki Caro, a New Zealander whose 2002 feature "Whale Rider" remains a staple of family movie nights. Other recent Disney remakes, such as "The Lion King" and "Aladdin," performed well at the box office; "Mulan" seems poised to do the same, especially if it resonates in the all-important China market.
