This fall will see a lot of action in cinemas — quite literally. In contrast to the summer’s superhero flicks, however, this time the battles will be fought by real men: Hugh Jackman, Matt Damon, Clive Owen, Jason Statham, Robert De Niro, Taylor Lautner and Sam Worthington, not to mention Dame Helen Mirren. As cartoons give way to reality, we’ll start to see not only thinking-man’s thrillers, but thinking-man’s films, period. With directors such as Martin Scorsese, Clint Eastwood, Alexander Payne and Lars von Trier delivering their work to theaters, we’ll begin hearing the unmistakable sound of Oscar buzz. ‘The Debt’
Opens: Aug. 31
The stars: Helen Mirren, Jessica Chastain, Sam Worthington, Tom Wilkinson
The plot: Ex-Mossad agents reflect on their youthful capture of a Nazi war criminal.
The forecast: Helen Mirren adds gravitas to what is already this year’s brainiest thriller.
The wrap: Rising star Chastain — she also starred in “Tree of Life” and “The Help” this year — proves she can channel one of the greats.
‘Contagion’
Opens: Sept. 9
The stars: Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Marion Cotillard, Gwyneth Paltrow
The plot: Things fall apart after a pandemic starts with a virus that kills within days.
The forecast: Though not a huge-budget film, it has the advantages of an apocalyptic story and a star cast.
The wrap: Steven Soderbergh’s career started out with such promise, but might have hit a creative dead end.
‘I Don’t Know How She Does It’
Opens: Sept. 16
The stars: Sarah Jessica Parker, Greg Kinnear, Pierce Brosnan
The plot: A working mother faces pressure on the job and at home.
The forecast: Women love SJP — and the best-selling novel on which the film is based.
The wrap: With mostly duds since, it’s unclear whether Parker can sustain a post-“Sex and the City” career.
‘Moneyball’
Opens: Sept. 23
The stars: Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Wright
The plot: Oakland A’s General Manager Billy Beane tries to shape a world-class baseball team on a budget.
The forecast: It’s Brad Pitt starring in a movie about America’s pastime.
The wrap: It was tough going to turn Michael Lewis’ nonfiction tome into a narrative film — but with Aaron Sorkin and Steven Zaillian scripting, it probably works.
‘Killer Elite’
Opens: Sept. 23
The stars: Jason Statham, Clive Owen, Robert De Niro
The plot: Based on a novel — that controversially claimed to be inspired by real events — the film follows a hit squad charged with taking out members of the British special forces.
The forecast: Two of Britain’s best action actors join American legend Robert De Niro: This one won’t be just for the elite.
The wrap: Viewers finally get to see Statham and Owen on screen together. And not on the same team.
‘Abduction’
Opens: Sept. 23
The stars: Taylor Lautner, Lily Collins, Alfred Molina, Sigourney Weaver
The plot: Lautner is a young man who finds his own photograph on a missing-persons website.
The forecast: Lautner’s first lead role outside the “Twilight” series means the film has a ready-made audience.
The wrap: A clever premise, direction by John Singleton, and veterans Molina, Weaver and Maria Bello mean this could appeal to a wider audience than simply the young women attracted to Lautner’s dark werewolf persona.
’50/50′
Opens: Sept. 30
The stars: Seth Rogan, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Anna Kendrick, Bryce Dallas Howard
The plot: Gordon-Levitt is diagnosed with cancer, and finds, in between treatments, it can help his friends get chicks, in this buddy dramedy.
The forecast: Rogan is a box office draw who should assure audiences that this cancer flick is indeed funny.
The wrap: Rogan produces and plays a version of himself in the film, which is based on real experience and written by the friend who was struck with cancer.
‘The Ides of March’
Opens: Oct. 7
The stars: George Clooney, Ryan Gosling, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Marisa Tomei
The plot: Clooney, who also directs, is a promising Democratic presidential candidate with a skeleton in his closet in this adaptation of Beau Willimon’s play “Farragut North.”
The forecast: The country is in a cynical mood right now, but do Americans want to be reminded about the down-and-dirty nature of politics in the movie theater?
The wrap: Gosling, who turned in a confident performance in “Crazy, Stupid, Love” this summer, is the idealist who learns Clooney’s secret and must choose between his politics and his soul.
‘Real Steel’
Opens: Oct. 7
The stars: Hugh Jackman, Evangeline Lilly, Dakota Goyo, and a lot of metal
The plot: Jackman is a former boxer who restores a robot and trains it for glory.
The forecast: Life-size robot boxers? It sounds slightly ridiculous, but this one is aimed squarely at Hollywood’s favorite demographic, young men.
The wrap: With a film that hearkens back to the ’80s, fans will probably be wishing Jackman would move forward with “The Wolverine.”
‘Anonymous’
Opens: Oct. 28
The stars: Rhys Ifans, Vanessa Redgrave, David Thewlis
The plot: Shakespeare wasn’t really Shakespeare.
The forecast: It will certainly bring in the stubborn group that insists Edward de Vere, the Earl of Oxford (played by Ifans), is the man who actually wrote the plays.
The wrap: A lush period drama with some of Britain’s finest, even if the premise seems preposterous.
‘J. Edgar’
Opens: Nov. 9
The stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Naomi Watts, Jeffrey Donovan, Armie Hammer
The plot: A biopic of FBI founder J. Edgar Hoover, played by DiCaprio.
The forecast: DiCaprio is already seeing some Oscar buzz — as is director Clint Eastwood, who’s no stranger to the academy.
The wrap: American history buffs might bristle at the suggestion the enigmatic Hoover was gay.
‘Melancholia’
Opens: Nov. 11
The stars: Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Alexander Skarsgard
The plot: The films opens with the end of the world — and then flashes back to the wedding of Dunst, who suffers from the title illness.
The forecast: Lars von Trier makes divisive films that are always worth watching, no matter how dark.
The wrap: Dunst picked up the best actress award at Cannes, following in the footsteps of Gainsbourg, who did the same in 2009 with von Trier’s ubercontroversial film “Antichrist.”
‘Breaking Dawn: Part 1’
Opens: Nov. 18
The stars: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner
The plot: The first installment of the final chapter in the Twilight Saga, the massively popular trilogy by Stephenie Meyer.
The forecast: There’s no question this will end up one of the biggest box office hits of the year — and that a screening of the movie is the best place this fall to pick up girls.
The wrap: The book was strange enough, with an infamous scene in which Bella (Stewart) gives birth to the half-vampire baby she conceived with Edward (Pattinson). How will fans take seeing it on screen?
‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy’
Opens: Nov. 18
The stars: Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, Ciaran Hinds
The plot: John le Carre’s classic spy novel is brought to life once again, this time with Gary Oldman walking in the footsteps of Alec Guinness.
The forecast: With Oldman as George Smiley trying to track a mole and Firth, Hardy and Hinds as his suspects, “Tinker” should provide some of the best acting of the year.
The wrap: How did it take 30 years for someone to remake the BBC miniseries based on le Carre’s ever-popular novels?
‘The Muppets’
Opens: Nov. 23
The stars: Jason Segel, Amy Adams, Chris Cooper, Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy
The plot: After a dozen years, the late Jim Henson’s creations return to the big screen in a lavish musical comedy.
The forecast: Parents, who remember the television series, will take their kids — and even adults without kids will take a trip down nostalgia lane.
The wrap: Segel, the “How I Met Your Mother” star who co-wrote the film, promises an irony-free ride.
‘Hugo’
Opens: Nov. 23
The stars: Asa Butterfield, Chloe Grace Moretz, Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen
The plot: An orphan inherits a strange, broken robot in 1930s Paris in this adaptation of Brian Selznick’s novel “The Invention of Hugo Cabret.”
The forecast: Martin Scorsese could use a box office boost — not to mention some critical love again — after last year’s “Shutter Island.”
The wrap: Scorsese’s first film in 3-D should prove a delight to young and old, the perfect Thanksgiving picture.
‘The Descendants’
Opens: Nov. 23
The stars: George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Matthew Lillard
The plot: Clooney is a Hawaiian magnate who learns that his wife was cheating on him after she goes in to a coma.
The forecast: Alexander Payne’s first film since 2004’s “Sideways” should draw fans of quality film, though the Thanksgiving opening means a lot of heavy competition.
The wrap: Payne, who also made the excellent “Election,” has never made a bad movie.
