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Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid Sequel to the 1997 action-thriller “Anaconda,” this time about pharmaceutical company employees who discover the amazing healing orchid they seek has also allowed the snakes of Borneo to grow to incredible sizes. Directed by Dwight Little (“Murder at 1600”) from a screenplay by John Claflin & Daniel Zelman, Michael Miner (“RoboCop 2”) and Ed Neumeier (“Starship Troopers”). With Kadee Strickland (“Something’s Gotta Give”), Johnny Messner (“Spartan”), Morris Chestnut (“Breakin’ All the Rules”), Nicholas Hope (“Scooby-Doo”), Peter Curtin (“Darkness Falls”), Matthew Marsden (“Black Hawk Down”), Eugene Byrd (“8 Mile”) and Salli Richardson (“Biker Boyz”). PG-13: Action violence; scary images; some language. Aug. 27. Sony.     Bright Leaves Documentary examining North Carolina’s legacy as the United States’ leading producer of tobacco. Written, narrated and directed by Ross McElwee (“Sherman’s March”), whose great-grandfather, John McElwee, founded (with Washington Duke, founder of Duke University) the Durham Bull tobacco company. 107 min. Aug. 25 in New York. First Run.       Chooch Comedy about the misadventures of two cousins from Queens, New York, during an ill-fated vacation to Cancun. Written and directed by Rayeev Nirmalakhandan. With Carmine Famiglietti, Paola Walker, Stefan Lysenko (“Jane Austin’s Mafia”), Pete Medina and Anthony Barrile (“Hamburger Hill”). 81 min. R: Language. Aug. 27 limited. Artistic License.     Collateral Thriller, set in New York, about a cab driver who comes to realize that he has been shuttling a hit man from murder to murder, and that he will be executed if he is believed to have witnessed any of the hits. Directed by Michael Mann (“The Insider,” “Ali”) from a screenplay by Stuart Beattie. With Tom Cruise (“The Last Samurai”), Jamie Foxx (“Breakin’ All the Rules”), Mark Ruffalo (“13 Going on 30,” “We Don’t Live Here Anymore”), Jada Pinkett Smith (the “Matrix” series), Irma P. Hall (“A Slipping Down Life”), Javier Bardem (“Mondays in the Sun”) and Emilio Rivera (“Bruce Almighty”). Aug. 6. DreamWorks.     Exorcist: The Beginning Prequel to the 1973 thriller, set in the early part of the 20th century, about a young priest’s journey through Africa and his first encounter with demonic possession. Based upon characters and events depicted in William Blatty’s novel “The Exorcist.” Directed by Renny Harlin (“Driven,” “Deep Blue Sea”) from a screenplay by Alex Hawley. With Stellan Skarsgård (“Dogville,” “King Arthur”), James D’Arcy (“Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World”), Izabella Scorupco (“Reign of Fire”), Antonie Kamerling (“Left Luggage”) and Andrew French (“Close Your Eyes”). Scope. Aug. 20. Warner Bros.     Face Drama about a Chinese-American woman who, after a rapist leaves her pregnant, must travel to China to restore her family’s reputation. Bertha Bay-Sa Pan makes her feature directorial debut from a screenplay by Bay-Sa Pan and Oren Moverman (“Jesus’ Son”). With Bai Ling (“My Baby’s Daddy,” “She Hate Me”), Kieu Chinh (“Green Dragon”), Kristy Wu (“What’s Cooking?”), Anthony “Treach” Criss (“Empire”), Ken Leung (“Red Dragon”), Will Yun Lee (“Die Another Day”) and Melissa Martinez (“Brown Sugar”). 89 min. Aug. 6. Indican.   Hero Mandarin-language drama, set against the dawn of the Qin dynasty, about the soon-to-be first emperor of China – and the loyal follower who must protect him from three ruthless assassins. Directed by Zhang Yimou (“The Road Home,” “Happy Times”) from a screenplay by Yimou, Li Feng and Wang Bin. With Jet Li (“Cradle 2 the Grave”), Tony Leung Chiu-Wai (“In the Mood for Love”), Maggie Cheung (“Millennium Mambo”), Zhang Ziyi (“Rush Hour 2”), Chen Dao Ming and Donnie Yen (“Shanghai Knights”). Also known as “Ying Xiong.” Scope. 96 min. PG-13: Stylized martial arts violence; a scene of sensuality. Aug. 20. Miramax. Alien Vs. Predator Science fiction adventure, set in the early 21st century, about a group of Weyland-Yutami “corporate archaeologists” who, while exploring an ancient pyramid in Antarctica, encounter dueling interstellar forces of evil. The fifth chapter of the “Alien” series and the third of the “Predator” franchise. Directed by Paul W.S. Anderson (“Soldier,” “Resident Evil”) from a screenplay by Anderson and Shane Salerno (“Shaft”). With Lance Henriksen (“Scream 3”), Ewen Bremner (“The Reckoning,” “Around the World in 80 Days”), Sanaa Lathan (“Out of Time”), Raoul Bova (“Under the Tuscan Sun,” “Facing Windows”), Colin Salmon (“The Statement”) and Tom Woodruff Jr. (“Looney Tunes: Back in Action”). Scope. Aug. 13. Fox.   Bang Rajan Thai-language drama, set in 1763 Bang Rajan and based on a true story, about the Thai villagers who battled against the invading Burmese army. Directed by Tanit Jitnukul from a screenplay by Kongkiat Khomsiri. With Jaran Ngamdee, Winai Kraibutr, Theerayut Ptratyabamrung, Bin Bunluerit and Bongkoj Khongmalai. Flat. 119 min. July 16 in New York and Los Angeles. Magnolia.     Bright Young Things Drama, set in prewar London, about a struggling young author who – in an effort to generate enough cash to marry his aristocratic girlfriend – adopts a pseudonym and begins writing a gossip column chronicling (and embellishing) the excesses of his party-happy upper-crust pals. Based on the novel “Vile Bodies” by Evelyn Waugh (“A Handful of Dust”). Actor Stephen Fry (“Le Divorce”) makes his directorial debut from his own screenplay. With Fry, Stephen Campbell Moore, Emily Mortimer (“Young Adam,” “Dear Frankie”), Dan Aykroyd (“50 First Dates”), Stockard Channing (“Anything Else”), Richard E. Grant (“Gosford Park,” “Monsieur N.”), Jim Broadbent (“Nicholas Nickleby,” “Around the World in 80 Days”) and Peter O’Toole (“Troy”). 105 min. Aug. 20. ThinkFilm.     Code 46 Science fiction romantic thriller about a man who falls for a mysterious young woman and later discovers that she was cloned from his mother’s DNA. Directed by Michael Winterbottom (“The Claim,” “24 Hour Party People”) from a screenplay by Frank Cottrell Boyce (“The Claim,” “Pandaemonium,” “24 Hour Party People”). With Tim Robbins (“Mystic River,” “Anchorman”), Samantha Morton (“In America”), Jeanne Balibar (“Who Knows?”), Essie Davis (“Girl with a Pearl Earring”), Om Puri (“The Mystic Masseur”), Nabil Elouhabi (“The Sum of All Fears”) and Nina Fogg. 92 min. R: A scene of sexuality; including brief graphic nudity. Aug. 6 limited. MGM.     Cowards Bend the Knee Dialogue-free comedy, set in 1930s Winnipeg, Manitoba, shot on super-8mm celluloid and seen entirely through the voyeuristic perspective of a peep hole, about a commitment-phobic hockey player pursuaded by a comely stranger to avenge her father’s murder. Written and directed by Guy Maddin (“Dracula: Pages From a Virgin’s Diary,” “The Saddest Music in the World”). With Darcy Fehr (“The Saddest Music in the World”), Melissa Dionisio, Amy Stewart (“Lost and Delirious”), Tara Birtwhistle (“Dracula: Pages From a Virgin’s Diary”), Louis Negin (“Eye of the Beholder”), Mike Bell and Stan Lesk (“The Outside Chance of Maximilian Glick”). 60 min. Aug. 11. Zeitgeist.   Danny Deckchair Australian romantic comedy about a truck driver who finds love with a meter maid after he ties huge helium balloons to a lawn chair and accidentally floats off to a strange town. Longtime storyboard artist Jeff Balsmeyer (“Canadian Bacon,” “Operation Dumbo Drop,” “Heat”) makes his feature directorial debut from his own screenplay. With Rhys Ifans (“Once Upon A Time in the Midlands”), Miranda Otto (“Lord of the Rings: Return of the King,” “Close Your Eyes”), Justine Clarke (“Japanese Story”), Rhys Muldoon, Frank Magree (“Ned Kelly”) and Jeanette Cronin (“Dark City”). Flat. 90 min. PG-13: Sex-related situations. July 30 in New York and Los Angeles; wider Aug. 13. Lions Gate.   The Green Butchers Danish-language comedy about two friends whose meat-cutting venture is revitalized when they begin utilizing a new “secret ingredient.” Written and directed by screenwriter Anders Thomas Jensen (“Open Hearts,” “Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself”). With Line Kruse (“Mifune”), Nikolaj Lie Kaas (“Open Hearts”), Mads Mikkelsen (“Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself”), Nicolas Bro (“Kira’s Reason: A Love Story”), Aksel Erhardtsen and Bodil Jorgensen (“The Idiots”). Also known as “De Gronne Slagtere.” 100 min. Aug. 20. Newmarket.