Movie lovers take note. Here's the latest on this year's movies.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — There are big years for movies, and there are BIG years. Then there’s 2007, which has some Hollywood types thinking a record box-office year may be at hand.

The month of May alone has dollar signs dancing in studio executives’ heads as the third installments to three of the all-time biggest movie franchises hit theaters within a three-week span.

First up, “Spider-Man 3,” with Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst returning as the young superhero and his dreamgirl. Next comes “Shrek the Third,” with Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy and Antonio Banderas back as mouthpieces of the lovable animated fairy-tale kooks. Then there’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End,” with Johnny Depp continuing the cliffhanger left from last summer’s blockbuster.

Two other heavyweights follow soon after: the animated “Ratatouille,” a comedy about a gourmet rodent from the Disney-Pixar partnership; and “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” with Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint going back to wizardry school in the fantasy series’ fifth chapter.

The schedule is so loaded that even the sequels “Ocean’s Thirteen,” “The Bourne Ultimatum,” “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer,” and “Rush Hour 3” would make for an impressive summer. Plus, there’s an animated lineup that includes a big-screen take on “The Simpsons.”

Winter and spring have some intriguing movie prospects, including comedies from Eddie Murphy (“Norbit”) and Will Ferrell (“Blades of Glory”), a dramatic turn from Adam Sandler (“Reign Over Me”), and thrillers featuring Hilary Swank (“The Reaping”) and Sandra Bullock (“Premonition”).

The fall and holiday season presents such highlights as Will Smith in the apocalyptic tale “I Am Legend,” Nicolas Cage in the sequel “National Treasure: Book of Secrets,” Nicole Kidman in the fantasy “The Golden Compass,” Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe in the crime saga “American Gangster’’ and the voices of Jerry Seinfeld and Renee Zellweger in the animated comedy “Bee Movie.”

(Submitted by Kay Johnson, a staff writer for the Hutchinson Leader. She can be reached at johnson@hutchinsonleader.com [2])