''The Butterfly Effect'' (Feb. 6, 2004)
HOTTIE COSTAR Amy Smart
PITCH A dark twist on ''Back to the Future,'' this sci-fi project marks Kutcher's first non-comedic role (unless you count 2001's flop ''Texas Rangers,'' which you shouldn't). He stars as a man haunted by childhood traumas who finds a way to travel back in time and inhabit his younger self -- only to encounter unexpected consequences (does he find himself dating a 40-year-old woman?). ''Butterfly'' is the directorial debut of ''Final Destination 2'' screenwriters J. Mackye Gruber and Eric Bress.
BACK STORY Kutcher was a last-minute replacement for another TV-bred star, former ''Dawson's Creek'' resident Joshua Jackson.
VERDICT Will young fans feel punk'd when they meet Serious Ashton? Who knows. But choosing a teen-friendly thriller, rather than, say, a weepy drama, was shrewd.
''The Woods'' (Summer 2004)
HOTTIE COSTAR First-timer Bryce Dallas Howard (daughter of director Ron Howard)
PITCH This is an M. Night Shyamalan project, which means details are deliberately scarce. But the story, set in 1897, involves a group of townsfolk who become aware that strange creatures live in the woods surrounding them. Presumably, they're not aliens this time.
VERDICT No Shyamalan movie since ''The Sixth Sense'' has grossed less than $95 million. Despite the period setting, ''Woods'' shouldn't be any different. But will Kutcher's take-charge tendencies (he's a producer on most of his films) clash with Shyamalan's control-freak ways?
''The Dinner Party'' (begins shooting spring 2004)
HOTTIE COSTAR Not yet cast
PITCH Kutcher stars in this comedy about a young man who's about to marry an African-American woman. Bernie Mac will play her curmudgeonly dad, who's far from happy about the relationship.
BACK STORY Until last month, the project was called ''Guess Who's Coming to Dinner'' and was slated to be a comic, race-reversed remake of the Katharine Hepburn/Spencer Tracy/Sidney Poitier 1967 Oscar winner. Despite the title switch, the concept appears to be unchanged.
VERDICT ''Bringing Down the House'' showed how effective culture-clash comedies can be. As long as the filmmakers avoid corny stereotypes (and are smart enough to cast, say, Gabrielle Union as the daughter), this could be the biggest hit yet for both Kutcher and Mac.
''Elizabethtown'' (filming early 2004)
HOTTIE COSTAR Kirsten Dunst
PITCH A comedy set in the South, with Dunst and Kutcher's characters entering into an unlikely romance. Cameron Crowe (''Jerry Maguire'') will write and direct.
VERDICT Crowe's last movie, 2001's ''Vanilla Sky,'' was a critical bomb, and the one before that, 2000's ''Almost Famous,'' died at the box office. But ''Elizabethtown'' returns him to the comfortable territory of romantic comedy -- and the pairing of Kutcher and Dunst should sizzle (sorry, Demi).
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