Preview of 2007 Summer Family Movies

This summer promises to be a blockbuster season at the movie theater with a number of sequels hitting the big screen. But what movies are available to view with your children when the summer days get too hot to play outside?

You might be surprised to find not one G-rated movie on the slate. While several are still unrated, most of these movies look like they will be for older kids from their trailers. Guess goodness doesn't sell.

Yet, this summer promises a pretty full plate of selections for family movies, including some movies for the preteen and teenage crowd as well.

Here's the run down by release date:

Spiderman 3
The cast of the first two movies returns in this sequel to Marvel's Spiderman franchise. In Spiderman 2, we saw Peter Parker reveal his alter ego to his sweetheart Mary Jane. In this movie, Parker must not only strike a balance between his personal life and his crime-fighting duties, but he must also answer the following question: "Can a man confront the forces of darkness without giving into them?"

In this installment, Spiderman will not only face two of the "most feared" villains -- Sandman and Venom -- who are out for vengeance, but he'll also see a reappearance of the Green Goblin as resurrected by his once-best pal Harry Osborn. If that wasn't enough on our young superhero's plate, he must also battle his own personal demons when his suit suddenly turns black. The dark suit not only enhances his powers, it brings out his dark side.

Oh yeah, did I mention that Mary Jane has a little competition when college co-ed Gwen Stacy takes an interest in Parker?

Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense action violence.
Release Date: May 4
To view the trailer, visit http://spiderman3.sonypictures.com/

Shrek the Third
Mike Myers (Shrek), Cameron Diaz (Princess Fiona), Eddie Murphy (Donkey), Anonio Banderas (Puss in Boots), Julie Andrews (Queen Lillian) and John Cleese (King Harold) return for the third installment in this animated series.

When King Herold, Fiona's father and a frog, of Far, Far Away Land suddenly croaks, Shrek is in line for the throne. In order to avoid the crown, Shrek along with Donkey and Puss in Boots set off on an adventure to find Fiona's wayward teenage cousin Artie (Justin Timberlake) -- as in King Arthur -- the only remaining suitable successor for Fiona's father, but not before Shrek finds out that he himself will be a father.

While Shrek's away a pregnant Fiona must battle off a vengeful Prince Charming (Rupert Everett) who has decided that the throne should be his. To aid Fiona in this fight is a band of familiar princesses -- Snow White (Amy Poehler), Rapunzel (Maya Rudolph), Sleeping Beauty (Cheri Oteri) and Cinderella (Amy Sedaris).

Merlin (Eric Idle), Sir Lancelot (John Krasinski), Captain Hook (Ian McShane), the ugly stepsister Doris (Larry King) and the other ugly stepsister Mabel (Regis Philbin) will also make an appearance.

Rated PG for crude humor, suggestive content and swashbuckling action.
Release Date: May 18
To view the trailer, visit http://www.shrek.com/main.html

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Jerry Bruckheimer brings back an all-star cast in this final chapter of the pirate trilogy. At the end of Dead Man's Chest, Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann and the crew of the Pearl partnered with Captain Barbossa to find Captain Jack Sparrow who was dragged into the sea by Davy Jones' cracken. And Jones, whose heart was traded by Admiral James Norrington for a pardon, is now controlled by the East India Trading Company.

Our heroes travel through treacherous waters and other obstacles to reach Singapore and Sao Feng (Chow Yun-Fat), a sly Chinese pirate. The journey ends in a battle royale literally beyond the world's edge where pirates from all four corners of the world battle it out. Each character -- Turner, Swann, Sparrow, Norrington, Barbossa, Lord Cutler Beckett, Jones -- will have to make their final alliance in the showdown that will determine the fate of pirates on the high seas.

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action/adventure violence and some frightening images.
Release Date: March 25
To view the trailer, visit http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/pirates/atworldsend/

Surf's Up
Another animated penguin movie -- one about penguins surfing. Cody Maverick (Shia LaBeouf) is the new and rising talent in the world of penguin surfing. A documentary crew follows hot shot Maverick on his adventure as he heads to the Big Z Memorial Surf Off.

Along the way he makes some new friends who teach him that winning isn't everything. Maverick's competition includes the reining champ Tank "the Shredder" Evans (Diedrich Bader), a farm chicken named Chicken Joe (Jon Heder) and lifeguard Lani (Zooey Deschanel). He also meets Promoter Reggie Belafonte (James Woods), a scheming hedgehog, and Talent Scout Mikey Abromowitz (Mario Cantone) a Type A shorebird, but its Lani's uncle Geek (Jeff Bridges), a recluse surfer, who he unwittingly bonds with.

Rated PG for mild language and some rude humor.
Release Date: June 8
To view the trailer, visit http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/surfsup/index.html

Fantastic Four: The Rise of the Silver Surfer
The fabulous foursome returns in this sequel in the Marvel franchise. This time they must decipher the intent of the Silver Surfer, a celestial messenger of Galactus, an intergalactic god, causing destruction and chaos around the world.

And did I mention that the dynamic foursome haven't seen the last of Dr. Doom?

Not Yet Rated (the first movie was rate PG-13 for sequences of intense action and some suggestive content).
Release Date: June 15
To view the trailer, visit http://www.fantasticfourmovie.com/

Nancy Drew
Enjoy the same inquisitive protagonist from Carolyn Keene's books on the big screen.

Small town sleuth Nancy Drew (Emma Roberts) goes with her father Carson (Tate Donovan) to Los Angeles where she finds big adventure when she stumbles on to an unsolved mystery surrounding the death of movie star.

Rated PG for mild violence, thematic elements and brief language.
Release Date: June 15
To view the trailer, visit http://nancydrewmovie.warnerbros.com/

Evan Almighty
Newly elected to Congress, former news anchor Evan Baxter (Steve Carell) of Bruce Almighty, moves from Buffalo to northern Virginia where God puts him on the almighty quest to build an ark. Hilarity ensues as his passengers arrive two by two, he begins to look like Noah and his family wonders about his sanity.

Rated PG for mild rude humor and some peril.
Release Date: June 22
To view the trailer, visit http://www.evanalmighty.com/

Ratatouille
In this animated adventure by Disney and Pixar, Remy the rat wants to become a chef -- a hard thing for a rat to do in the rat-phobic culinary world.

But as luck would have it, Remy ends up in Paris at the five-star restaurant his idol Chef Auguste Gusteau made famous. Unable to avoid the temptation of the kitchen and the opportunity to practice his talents, he's discovered by Linguini, the garbage boy. A partnership and a friendship is formed.

Not Yet Rated.
Release Date: June 29
To view the trailer, visit http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/ratatouille/

Transformers
The Transformers toys originally released in 1984 have evolved into a comic book, an animated series on Cartoon Network, and now, a movie. The battle of the Autobots and the Decepticons continues on the big screen.

Not Yet Rated.
Release Date: July 4
To view the trailer, visit http://www.transformersmovie.com/

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry, Ron and Hermoine return to Hogwarts for their fifth year, but all is different. Voldemort, the dark wizard, has returned, but not everyone believes what Harry saw at the end of his fourth year.

Dumbledore and Harry lead the charge in preparing to fight Voldemort and his followers while the Ministry for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, is in denial. Battle lines are drawn.

It'll be interesting to see how they condense this book into a couple hours on the big screen.

Not Yet Rated.
Release Date: July 13
To view the trailer, visit http://www.harrypotterorderofthephoenix.com/

The Simpsons Movie
Fox's long-time animated series moves from prime time to the big screen. Homer's antics have really gotten him in trouble this time. Now he must save the world.

Not Yet Rated.
Release Date: July 27
To view the trailer, visit http://www.simpsonsmovie.com/#

Underdog
"There's no need to fear, Underdog is here." Our favorite cartoon wonder dog has returned just in time to save Capitol City in live action.

After a lab accident, an unsuspecting beagle (Jason Lee) finds he has superhero powers, the ability to speak to humans and a nifty new outfit. With his new persona, Underdog promises to protect the citizens of Capitol City from the scheming scientist Dr. Simon Barsinster (Peter Dinklage).

Amy Adams does the voice of Polly Purebread, the little spaniel Underdog is sweet on.

Rated PG for rude humor, mild language and action.
Release Date: August 3
To view the trailer, visit http://disney.go.com/DisneyPictures/underdog/

Bratz: The Movie
Another case of toys taking the big screen as these dolls make their live action film debut.

Four teenage girls from different backgrounds are united in this story of a rite of passage into young adulthood.

Not Yet Related.
Release Date: August 10

Daddy Day Camp
Cuba Gooding Jr. starts in this sequel to Eddie Murphy's Daddy Day Care about a summer day camp.

Not Yet Rated.
Release Date: August 10

Well now you should have at least find a couple good shows to fill your summer afternoons. See you in the concession lines!