Starring: Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connelly
Directed by: Scott Derrickson
Release date: December 12

Take a 1950s science-fiction cult classic. Replace its Cold War subtext with modern political anxieties. Infuse it with A-listers and 21st-century effects, and take it to the bank. At least that was the paradigm before The Invasion, 2007's star-studded remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, crashed and burned.

So director Scott Derrickson's redo of the 1951 Robert Wise landmark The Day the Earth Stood Still is emphasizing the story's more human elements. As in the original, an alien named Klaatu (Reeves) visits Earth to warn of imminent self-inflicted doom and befriends a boy. In this go-around, though, the boy (Jaden Smith) and his astrobiologist stepmother (Connelly) play more prominent roles. ''Jennifer is the backbone of the film,'' says Reeves, who returns to the action sci-fi genre for the first time since the Matrix sequels. ''And Jaden had to reach places for a young person that I imagine would be very difficult, like a cemetery scene where he has to talk about his dead father.'' While Connelly adored Wise's version, she welcomed the family-oriented focus of David Scarpa's script. ''There's a lot of me and Jaden trying to work out our relationship,'' says the Oscar winner, ''so most of the time it felt like we were just working on a drama.''

That's not to say the film has gone soft. Reeves describes his character as much more ''sinister'' than Michael Rennie's original Klaatu, and the trailer hints at far more extensive onscreen carnage. But the original's hopeful message remains, as does the hulking alien Gort and the immortal quote ''Klaatu barada nikto.'' As Reeves notes, ''To not have that line would be like doing a remake of The Wizard of Oz and not saying 'We're off to see the wizard.'''

John Patrick Shanley once joked that he was doomed to an obituary proclaiming him ''the guy who wrote Moonstruck.'' But that was before he created the 2004 stage show Doubt, a Tony-
winning drama set in a Bronx Catholic school 
in 1964. The story centers on Sister Aloysius (Meryl Streep), a principal who accuses a parish priest (Philip Seymour Hoffman) of sexually abusing a 12-year-
old boy — the school's only black student. 
 Theater audiences around the world have debated whether Sr. Aloysius is right to push for the 
 priest's removal, despite a lack of conclusive evidence. (Sex-scandal refugee Roman Polanski 
 directed a 2006 Paris run of the show.)

So why didn't Shanley hire Tony winner Cherry Jones (Ocean's Twelve) and Brían F. O'Byrne (No Reservations) from the Broadway cast? ''There was a real possibility of a retread feeling,'' he says. ''I wanted a fresh take.'' He might also have wanted A-list names in his first film-directing effort since 1990's Joe Versus the Volcano. He says going after Streep was ''a no-brainer,'' and she found him a welcome partner because he knew the material so thoroughly going in. Shanley chose pal Hoffman — who'd starred in a Chekhov play with Streep — because ''I never know what the hell he's going to do. He's the one guy that could make Meryl sweat.''

Still, it's unclear who wound up perspiring. Shanley reports that Streep, while prepping a key confrontation scene, would mutter things like ''I'm gonna kick his a--'' — and Hoffman wouldn't answer. Asked about her psych-out 
 attempts, Streep dodges. ''We have to maintain a certain mystery,'' she says.
OUR TWO CENTS 
Advance buzz says that Davis, as the boy's mother, seems like a can't-miss Supporting Actress candidate, while Streep looks ineluctably headed toward Oscar nom No. 15. 12/12
DEEP DIVE What does Streep know that you don't about Saint Elizabeth Seton, founder of the bonnett-and-cape-wearing Sisters of Charity? Find out at setonshrine.org

Starring: Freddy Rodriguez, John Leguizamo, Debra Messing
Directed by: Alfredo de Villa
Release date: December 12

When a Latino family reunites in Chicago for Christmas, issues bubble up at the dinner table alongside the sweet potato casserole in Nothing Like the Holidays. Jesse (Rodriguez) is recovering from his stint as a soldier in Iraq, while his brother (Leguizamo) ping-pongs between his grandchild-desiring mom (Elizabeth Peña) and his work-comes-first executive wife (Messing). Spanglish jokes aside, some family dynamics are universal.