Touchstone’s biggest hit in 2002 was Signs – the thriller from writer-director M. Night Shyamalan, released in August. This is Touchstone’s third film by the acclaimed director of The Sixth Sense. Signs took the box office by storm, opening at number one with a gross of $60 million on its way to a total domestic box office of more than $225 million. Hailed by Newsweek as “The Next Spielberg,” Shyamalan wowed audiences with his tale of a farmer whose world is shaken when he discovers otherworldly “signs.”

The fall season brought another strong performer, the romantic comedy Sweet Home Alabama, which scored the biggest September opening weekend in history, with nearly $36 million, going on to gross more than $125 million overall in its domestic run. The film features Reese Witherspoon as a New York fashion designer who’s about to get married, but must first return to Alabama to divorce the man she married while in high school.

In December, Touchstone released the latest film from Academy Award^®-nominated director Spike Lee, 25th Hour. Edward Norton plays Monty, a man facing prison who struggles to redeem himself with the help of his father, his girlfriend and his two best friends.

In January, The Recruit took moviegoers inside the CIA to see how agents are enlisted, trained and molded. James Clayton (Colin Farrell) is tapped by Walter Burke (Al Pacino) to join the agency. As Clayton learns the rules of the game from Burke, he is sent on a secret mission and discovers there’s more going on than meets the eye.

February brings the sequel to the 2000 hit Shanghai Noon, called Shanghai Knights. It re-teams the stars of the first film, Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson, but this time they’re off to Victorian England to track down a murderer.

In May, Academy Award^®-winner Kevin Costner both stars in and directs Open Range, a tale set in the old American West. Charley (Costner) and Boss (Robert Duvall) are cowboys who just want to drive their cattle and move on. But a greedy rancher objects to their cattle grazing on his land. As they prepare for a confrontation, Charley is forced to face his own checkered past. Annette Bening also stars.

March brings a wild comedy focusing on a mismatched pair. In Bringing Down the House, Peter (Steve Martin) is smitten with a brainy barrister he’s been chatting with online. But when she comes to his house, he finds she isn’t refined, and isn’t a lawyer. Instead, it’s Charlene (Queen Latifah), a prison escapee who proclaims her innocence and wants Peter to help clear her name.

At Christmas comes a highly anticipated motion picture that retells the story of The Alamo. John Lee Hancock of The Rookie directs this epic about the heroic defense of the Alamo in 1836.

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