Avatar

US dist: Twentieth Century Fox

US release date: December 18, 2009

James Cameron's first narrative theatrical feature since Titanic stars Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez, Sam Worthington and Giovanni Ribisi in a story about the conflicts between humans and the inhabitants of a distant planet.

Cameron shot Avatar on the new 3D Fusion System cameras he designed with cinematographer Vince Pace. "If you have film-makers who are going to excite the public's imagination just based on the fact they're doing that film, regardless of the 3D, then it's not a gimmick, it's a turbo charger. It's an upgrade," Cameron told Screen in 2006.

"The more product that's flowing into the marketplace at the same time that the general digital cinema roll-out is taking place, the more people (exhibitors) are going to have an incentive to upgrade to 3D."

Bolt

US dist: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

US release date: November 26, 2008

Miley Cyrus and John Travolta voice this 3D animation about a dog who lives on a television set and believes he is endowed with magic powers.

A Christmas Carol

US dist: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

US release date: November 6, 2008

After using stop-motion photography on The Polar Express and Beowulf, Robert Zemeckis continues his inventive fusion of live action and animation with this adaptation of the Dickens classic. Jim Carrey is Scrooge, and Gary Oldman, Colin Firth and Robin Wright Penn also star.

Coraline

US dist: Focus Features

US release date: December, 2008

Tim Burton protege Henry Selick, who directed The Nightmare Before Christmas, adapts this Neil Gaiman novel about a young girl who discovers a portal to an alternate world. Dakota Fanning heads the voice cast.

Louis La Chance

Int'l sales: Cinema Management Group

Philippe Leclerc and Xavier Aliot's French adventure story is set in the world of championship auto-racing and follows two brothers looking to avenge their father's death.

"We wanted to combine the narrative efficiency of a fiction film and the magic of an animation film," says Shax France's Hugues Sauvaire of the project, now in production.

Monsters Vs Aliens

US dist: DreamWorks

US release date: March 27, 2009

Rob Letterman and Conrad Vernon direct this animated feature about a young girl, voiced by Reese Witherspoon, who turns into a monster after being hit by a meteorite. She is taken to a secret government compound where she meets a ragtag group of monsters rounded up over the years.

Shrek Goes Fourth

US dist: DreamWorks

US release date: May 21, 2010

The fourth outing of the franchise will be the first made in 3D, with Mike Mitchell directing. There are also plans to re-release the previous three films (which have a combined worldwide gross of $2.2bn) in 3D.