Superman, X-Men and the impossible...

(L-R)Brandon Routh in Superman Returns, A scene from X3

If it really is all about the movies, 2006 stands a chance of turning Hollywood's current slump around with a film lineup that looks like a winner.

Here's a rundown of Hollywood's sure hits and safe bets (release dates are included, though they're subject to change):

Superman Returns (June 30): Admit it. For all the X-Men, Bat guys, Spideys and Fantastic Foursomes prancing around on screen, the Boy Scout from Krypton is still everyone's favourite superhero.

As the last Superman franchise did when it launched in the 1970s with a virtually unknown Christopher Reeve in the title role, Superman Returns has a fresh face, Brandon Routh.

Superman Returns draws its star power from Routh's colleagues, Kevin Spacey as super-villain Lex Luthor and Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane.

Mission: Impossible III (May 5): Finally, the smack down we've all been waiting for, Tom Cruise against Truman Capote.

Cruise's third go-round as super secret agent Ethan Hunt pits him against Philip Seymour Hoffman, star of the acclaimed film biography Capote, who plays the bad guy in Mission: Impossible III.

X3 (May 26): Those marvelous mutants return for what could be the final chapter in the X-Men saga. The whole crew is back, including Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Rebecca Romijn and Famke Janssen, whose character seemingly died a watery death at the end of X2: X-Men United.

This time out, the superpowered mutants find themselves slowly being more accepted into a society that feared them as freaks, only to face new turmoil when a "cure" is discovered for their mutant condition.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (July 7): Hard to believe that just a couple of years ago, Johnny Depp was that weirdo who was box-office poison. Depp follows up his 2003 blockbuster, which earned him an Academy Award nomination, with the first of two sequels (part three follows in 2007).

The Da Vinci Code (May 19): Take one runaway best seller, add the directing-producing team of Ron Howard and Brian Grazer and reunite them with their Splash and Apollo 13 star, this guy named Tom Hanks.

Adapted from Dan Brown's murder thriller that dissects the origins of Christianity, the film stars Hanks as a symbologist caught up in the mysteries of an ancient, shadowy religious society.

Lady in the Water (July 21): M Night Shyamalan spins another strange one, about a building super (Paul Giamatti) who discovers a water nymph (Bryce Dallas Howard) living in the tunnels beneath the apartment complex's swimming pool.

Compiled by Cultural Correspondent