What big films will be released this summer

A. Science fiction and fantasy is very much the genre of this summer's hottest new films. The big blockbusters of 2001 are tipped�to be Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship Ring, which will probably be released in the autumn.

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Q.� When is Planet of The Apes out

A.� This movie, being marketed as a 'reimagining' rather than a remake of the 1968 sci-fi classic, will be out this summer. Directed by Tim Burton, who also did Edward Scissorhands, it sees Helena Bonham Carter playing a chimp. It also stars Mark Wahlberg and Tim Roth and the ending, according to the producers, will 'blow your mind'.�

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Other films out include A!: Artificial Intelligence, the late Stanley Kubrick project taken over by Steven Spielberg. The film has been described as a hi-tech update of Pinocchio and stars Joel Osment as a boy robot with artificial intelligence, who has been separated from his parents. It is set in a flooded world with spectacular special effects. The shoot, like so much of Kubrick's work, was completed in condition of utter secrecy.

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Also out soon is Tomb Raider, in which Angelina Jolie plays the all-action Lara Croft. It's all systems go as Croft races against the bad guys to find the pieces of a device that can manipulate time.

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Q.� Are there are comedies

A. The film Evolution is said to be a cross between Men in Black and Ghostbusters. Former X-Files star David Duchovny teams up with Julianna Moore to play a couple who discover a meteor filled with single-celled organisms that evolve into intelligent creatures in just six weeks.

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Shrek is another computer-animated tale about a miserable ogre who sets out on an odyssey to rescue a princess. The film, which won rave reviews at last month's Cannes Film Festival, features the voices of stars such as Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz and John Lithgow. Us critics have dubbed it the next Toy Story.

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By Katharine MacColl