Summer releases questioned

LOS ANGELES -- So many summer movies, so many question marks. \nIs The Rock actor enough to carry "The Scorpion King" without the digitally grafted insect body he wore in "The Mummy Returns"? \nWill surfing the web as "Spider-Man," another half-human, half-bug, make an action hero out of Tobey Maguire? \nHave the people who bring you Austin Powers found a film title that won't prompt counter-measures by the people who bring you James Bond? \nAnd will the people who brought you "Little Nicky" be burned in effigy for daring a remake of Frank Capra's "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town"? \nIf audiences can buy nice guy Denzel Washington as a bad cop in "Training Day," can they buy nice guy Tom Hanks as a hit man in "Road to Perdition"? \nMight movie marquees collapse under the heft of Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise's names on "Minority Report"? \nAnd the big question: "Attack of the Clones"? \nFans have heaped scorn on the B-movie title of "Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones," a film expected to follow its four predecessors as Hollywood's blockbuster hit of the summer. \nRick McCallum, producing partner of "Star Wars" creator George Lucas, said fans initially derided most of the series' chapter tags. They eventually embrace the titles as befitting the story lines, he said. \nThe latest chapter brings back Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Natalie Portman as Padme Amidala, the story picking up 10 years after the action of "Phantom Menace." The main cast addition is Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker -- the future Darth Vader.\nBefore Anakin jumps back into action May 16, Hollywood already will have delivered two powerhouse offerings, "The Scorpion King" and "Spider-Man." \nA spinoff of "The Mummy" franchise, "Scorpion King" debuts more than a month before Memorial Day, once the traditional start of the movie industry's busy summer season. It stars pro wrestler The Rock as the warrior he originated in last summer's smash "The Mummy Returns." \nTwo weeks later comes franchise-in-the-making "Spider-Man," starring Maguire as comic-book hero Peter Parker, transformed into the agile crime-fighter after he's bitten by a mutant spider. Willem Dafoe plays the villainous Green Goblin, and Kirsten Dunst is girl-next-door Mary Jane Watson. \nBesides "Star Wars," summer sequels include Michael J. Fox's return as the voice of the beloved rodent in "Stuart Little 2"; "Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams," with the family that spies together facing rival junior agents; Mike Myers' latest romp as Austin Powers, the swinging spy with rotten teeth; and "Men in Black II," with director Barry Sonnenfeld reuniting Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones.