As industry insiders all know, the autumn and winter film season is the time for Oscar contenders: grand epics, arty period dramas, quirky character studies and the movies in which usually glamorous actresses don fake noses or extra pounds to wow Academy voters with their impressive star turns.

Summer, on the other hand, is the season for special effects-laden extravaganzas, slapstick comedies, fluffy romances and — following the trend of the last three summers — seemingly endless sequels.

For the studio drones that crunch the numbers on box office returns, the summer season officially started in May. Summer-worthy eye candy films Speed Racer and Iron Man, have already hit theaters.

Here’s a look at some other films (big and small) that will try and drag us out of the sun and into the multiplex this summer.

On May 16, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, a sequel to Disney’s 2005 fantasy epic, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe will be released. The film, which follows the now older siblings as they journey back through the magical wardrobe, will be the second of the series. The expected release for the third installment is in summer 2010.

Stirring up even greater anticipation is Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Now 66 years old, Harrison Ford will don the famous whip, fedora and cocky grin for the first time since 1989’s Last Crusade. The film, which reunited director Steven Spielberg and producer George Lucas, will star Cate Blanchett, Shia LaBeouf and Karen Allen (who played Indy’s girlfriend in Raiders of the Lost Arc) and is slated for release May 22.

Also highly-anticipated — at least among the estrogen crowd — is the long-awaited Sex and the City: The Movie. The film reunites all four of the main characters from the HBO hit. New Line Cinemas, which is releasing the film May 30, has taken care to keep the plot hush-hush, but trailers for the film hint at wedding bells for Carrie and Mr. Big, a pregnancy for Charlotte and plenty of fabulous costume changes.

Another popular TV hit with a major cult following will also grace the big screen this summer: David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson will team up for the first time since 2002 as agents Mulder and Scully in The X-Files: I Want to Believe. The film hits theatres July 25.

Of course, it wouldn’t be summer without superheroes. On June 13, Universal Studios will release The Incredible Hulk, the second re-imagining of the Marvel Comic franchise since Ang Lee’s box office flop The Hulk in 2003. This version stars Edward Norton (who also co-wrote the script) as Bruce Banner and Liv Tyler as Betty Ross.

On July 11, Guillermo del Toro — the Mexican director that garnered critical praise for Pan’s Labyrinth — will release Hellboy II: The Golden Army. The film is a sequel to 2004’s Hellboy (also directed by del Toro) and will star much of the original cast.

On July 18, Warner Brothers will unveil the latest installment of the Batman franchise: The Dark Knight. The film, which again stars Christian Bale as the Caped Crusader, gained additional buzz after the tragic death of actor Heath Ledger, who died during post-production of the film. Dark Knight, in which Ledger plays the Joker, was one of the young actors’ final film appearances.

The summer also promises a few spooky thrills. On June 13, 20th Century Fox will release the fifth major film by director M. Night Shymalan. The Happening, an apocalyptic thriller to be deliberately released on Friday the 13th, stars Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel.

The season is also prime for comedies. The most hyped comedy, is Get Smart, a re-imagining of the 1960s TV show, stars Steve Carrell as Max Smart and Anne Hathaway as the sultry Agent 99.

Other comedies include Don’t Mess with Zohan (June 6), starring Adam Sandler as a zany hairstylist, and The Pineapple Express (Aug. 8), another comic outing (this one about a drug dealer on the lam) brought to us courtesy of the Judd Apatow bunch – otherwise known as the folks behind Knocked Up and Superbad.

Of course, not every movie due out this summer is an intended blockbuster. Several notable indies and documentaries will also grace the silver screen in the coming months. Quid Pro Quo (June 13) stars Nick Stahl as an NPR reporter who becomes embroiled in a steamy romance. On June 27, Beastie Boy Adam Yauch will release his documentary on eight high school basketball players meeting in New York for a big tournament in Gunning for that #1 Spot.

Choke, the story based on the Chuck Palahniuk novel about con artists who stage their own choking deaths, hits theaters August 1. On Aug. 8, Warner Independent Pictures will release Towelhead, the story of an Arab-American teenaged girl confronting bigotry in Texas during the Gulf War.