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FROM HELL Johnny Depp tracks the crimson trail of the notorious Jack the Ripper

After the urban grit of Menace II Society, Dead Presidents, and American Pimp, a period piece starring Johnny Depp (left) and Heather Graham is probably the last thing you'd expect from sibling filmmakers Allen and Albert Hughes. Except this isn't any ordinary period: It's 1880s London in the bloody grip of Jack the Ripper (the movie is based on Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell's acclaimed graphic novel). "People get all freaked out that we're doing this," huffs Allen. "They get all offended. They think we're doing some sort of Merchant Ivory-style thing. But we're just making the sort of movie we always make. It's really about street crime." Only this time the streets are cobblestone.

NEW FACES JAKE GYLLENHAAL

AGE 20 WHERE YOU'VE SEEN HIM As a young rocketeer in October Sky COMING SOON In Bubble Boy, he's an immunity-deficient teen encased in a clear protective suit (shades of Seinfeld and a '70s John Travolta TV movie). Also look for him in Highway and the Drew Barrymore-produced Donnie Darko. JOB HAZARD "The [Bubble] suit [created] this totally isolated environment where I almost became invisible," he says. "I really couldn't hear anything, so I sort of memorized everyone else's lines and became a really good lip-reader." SCHOOL TIES The actor--who promised his dad, director Stephen Gyllenhaal (Homegrown), he'd finish at least two years at Columbia University--has studied Indo-Tibetan philosophy under Uma Thurman's father, Robert. So, does the showbiz connection make them pals? "My family is friends with Uma and [husband] Ethan [Hawke]," Gyllenhaal says, "but he's really only 'Professor Thurman' to me."

UNTITLED TODD SOLONDZ PROJECT The Happiness auteur takes on teen comedy--and sticks it to suburbia

From the man behind Welcome to the Dollhouse and Happiness comes another tar-black comedy of dysfunction. This time Solondz (left) spins a split tale: the first half set on a mid-'80s college campus with James Van Der Beek and Selma Blair, the second inside a present-day suburban family. Along for the ride are John Goodman and Private Parts' Paul Giamatti (right). "[Todd] has the courage to tell stories that are beautiful and frightening," says Blair. "My mom watched his other movies at least six times each. We're a big Solondz household. I know, it's very scary."

EVOLUTION David Duchovny, Julianne Moore, and Orlando Jones face a different kind of development hell

A discharged Army medic (David Duchovny, seated, left), a college geology teacher (Orlando Jones, seated, right), and a scientist (Julianne Moore) take on an alien life form in director Ivan Reitman's sci-fi lark. On location near Arizona's Lake Powell, where both the original Planet of the Apes and this year's model were shot, the ex-X-Files star made creative use of downtime. "I have in my day book: 'One to three p.m., work on chemistry with Orlando,'" Duchovny says, adding that with Reitman's blessing the duo would ad-lib all day. And unlike some buddy comedies, he says, "We're doing smart and smarter." (Summer)

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