3:10 TO YUMA (Sept. 7)
How might the West be No. 1 at the box office in 2007? Saddle up two actors with range in Russell Crowe and Christian Bale, put the story in the hands of director James Mangold coming off the huge success of Walk the Line, and try to head off other contenders at the pass by opening the first weekend after Labor Day. I'm itching to see if these pardners can take the core material — the 1957 original was a tight battle of wills between captive outlaw (Glenn Ford) and principled citizen/lawman (Van Heflin) — and give it enough juice to make a character-driven western matter to moviegoers weaned on CGI flashiness. —Steve Korn