Though the Louisiana movie biz has been simmering in earnest since 2002, contributing greatly to the region's population of guys wearing cargo shorts with a roll of duct tape dangling from the belt, the results have been remarkably spaced out on the movie-release calendar. That's about to change, however, as the last four months of 2008 are fat with productions boasting Louisiana connections. Here's a preview:
"The Longshots"
Just in time for football season, Ice Cube heads up the cast of this Shreveport-shot feel-gooder, inspired by a true story and directed by Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst, about the first female quarterback in Pop Warner history.
"College"
A boozy teen romp, shot mostly on the Tulane University campus, in which three high school students spend a weekend at college.
"Walking on Dead Fish"
Hall-of-Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw narrates this documentary - which lists Bradshaw and Saints running back Reggie Bush as executive producers - about the East St. John football team's post-Katrina season. Universal Pictures has acquired the rights for a yet-to-be-shot narrative version of the story.
"The Family That Preys"
New Orleans native Tyler Perry's sixth feature film, a dramatic comedy, was shot mostly in the Atlanta area - home to his namesake movie studio - but it shot for a couple of days in the New Orleans area.
"Trouble the Water"
This Danny Glover-produced Katrina documentary, focusing on a local couple's post-storm experience, won the Grand Jury Prize at this year's Sundance Film Festival. It finally gets a local run in September.
"Miracle at St. Anna"
Director Spike Lee shot this historical thriller largely in Italy, but he brought it to Louisiana for a day - to White Castle to be exact - to shoot one scene.
"W."
Director Oliver Stone's unauthorized, unvarnished biopic focusing on the 43rd president only wrapped in July, but he apparently hopes to have it in theaters before the November elections.
"Soul Men"
Bernie Mac and Isaac Hayes finished this comedy in Shreveport (with Samuel L. Jackson) a few months before their recent unrelated deaths.
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
This film is so big, it took two major studios - Paramount and Warner Bros. - to bankroll it. Brad Pitt stars, with Cate Blanchett and Taraji P. Henson, in the movie (based on a story by F. Scott Fitzgerald) shot in New Orleans in late 2006 and early 2007. It also shot for a time on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain, in Covington, Abita Springs and Mandeville.
"Hurricane Season"
The movie based on the real-life story of the John Ehret High School basketball team's improbable post-Katrina championship in the New Orleans area before wrapping this summer. It stars Forest Whitaker, Lil' Wayne, Isaiah Washington, Taraji P. Henson and Bow Wow.