Michigan multiplexes had better save a seat for Ted Nugent — all four

movies hitting theaters this weekend involve hunting of some kind, from the

dragons in "Reign of Fire" and the crocs of "The Crocodile Hunter: Collision

Course" to "Halloween: Resurrection"'s pack of hapless teens and the mob's

search for Tom Hanks in "Road to Perdition."

Dragons are breeding, breathing fire and flying around, all while laying

waste to London in "Reign of Fire." It's up to Matthew McConaughey ("A Time

to Kill") and Christian Bale ("American Psycho") to stop them.

"It was a lot of fun," McConaughey said of playing dragon-slayer Denton Van

Zan. "I mean, there was no rules to it, slaying dragons in the future —

go be the man of action, the badass, the get physical, run through something

instead of around it, eat it instead of smell it [type of character]" (see

[article id="1455942"]"Summer Film Season Heats Up With Studs,

Fire-Breathing Dragons"[/article]).

McConaughey may be hunting mythical creatures, but Steve Irwin is chasing

scaly beasts of the all-too-real variety. "The Crocodile Hunter: Collision

Course" marks the big-screen debut of the popular television personality,

who hails from the land of AC/DC, INXS and Crocodile Dundee.

Unlike fellow (if fictional) Aussie Dundee, Irwin's no poacher. He's devoted

his life, as well as all of his profits from the film, to crocodile rescue

and wildlife conservation. The film's fictitious plot sees him chasing a

nasty critter who's swallowed a top secret satellite beacon, with his wife

Terri by his side and secret agents hot on his trail.

A hunter of a very different kind is on the trail of teens in "Halloween:

Resurrection." The eighth installment in the long-running slasher franchise

sees the white-masked Michael Myers return to his childhood home when a

group of kids sets up a webcast from inside. "Halloween Resurrection" stars

series veteran Jamie Lee Curtis, Sean Patrick Thomas ("Save the Last Dance")

and Busta Rhymes, who has called the movie "the most flavorful 'Halloween'

story" (see [article id="1455149"]"Busta Rhymes 'Flabbergasted'

By 'Halloween: Resurrection' "[/article]).

While Myers stalks for sport, Tom Hanks kills for money in "Road to

Perdition," in which the Oscar-winning actor plays against type as a 1930s

Chicago hit man. His son becomes marked by mob boss (and fellow Oscar

winner) Paul Newman after he witnesses a shooting.

All four flicks will go up against "Men in Black II," "Minority Report,"

"Mr. Deeds" and the rest of this year's consistently strong summer stable.