Perhaps the biggest news of the fall film season is about two films that won’t open this autumn after all -- one a dramatic thriller, the other a classic horror.

Paramount has moved Martin Scorsese’s Massachusetts-made Shutter Island -- which stars Leonard DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo as a pair of U.S. marshals investigating the mysterious disappearance of a murderer from an island’s fortress-like hospital for the criminally insane -- from early October to mid-February. Studio head Brad Grey cited the economic downturn as a reason.

Without fanfare, Universal has taken its remake of “The Wolfman” off its fall schedule, too, also moving it to February. Previously the film, which stars Benicio Del Toro as an American who is bitten by a wolfman, had been moved from summer to an early-November slot.

Never fear, however. There are still plenty of dramas and thrillers and horrors to keep moviegoers busy this fall, including Michael Jackson, who will be onscreen in “This Is It” (opening Oct. 28). The film was pasted together from footage taken during rehearsals and preparations for his planned London concert.

Provocateur filmmaker Michael Moore -- who previously took a jaundiced look at America’s gun culture, George W. Bush’s presidency and big corporations in films ranging from “Fahrenheit 9/11” and “Roger & Me” to “Bowling for Columbine” -- trains his lens on the downside of our free-for-all economy in “Capitalism: A Love Story” (Oct. 2).

That same day Drew Barrymore is scheduled to be back, too, although not onscreen. Barrymore will make her directorial debut with “Whip It,” which stars Ellen Page (of “Juno”) as a rebellious teen who gives up her small-town beauty-pageant crown for the whizzing excitement of the roller derby.

Matt Damon, no stranger to movie thrills, tries a change of pace in the offbeat comedy “The Informant” (opens Friday), based on the true story of a rising executive at a big agri-business who turns whistleblower for the FBI. Unfortunately for the bureau, it realizes too late that no one can be sure of what’s real and what’s fabrication in his story.

Fans of animation haven’t been left out this season, either, with a passel of films aimed at tickling both adults and small fry. They include “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” (Friday) -- one of the year’s best titles -- in which food begins falling from the sky; “9” (Sept. 9), a fantasy epic in which rag-doll-like creatures have been given the spark of life and struggle to survive in a post-apocalyptic world where humans have been killed off by rampaging machines; “Toy Story” (Oct. 2), this time in 3-D and in a double-feature program that includes “Toy Story 2”; “Astro Boy” (Oct. 23), based on the 1960s Japanese anime TV series, with Nicolas Cage and Eugene Levy among the star voices; “Fantastic Mr. Fox” (Nov. 13), a stop-motion animation based on Roald Dahl’s tale of farmers who vow to kill off a fox in their midst, with voices by George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Owen Wilson and Bill Murray; “Planet 51” (Nov. 20), with Dwayne Johnson lending his voice to the astronaut who lands on a strange planet that lives in fear of an alien invasion.

Alien abduction is the focal point of “The Fourth Kind” (Nov. 6), about a psychologist investigating the mysterious disappearances of a large number of the citizens of Nome, Alaska, and getting eyewitness accounts of visits by alien figures.

For thrills there’s “Surrogates” (Sept. 25), with Bruce Willis as a FBI agent trying to solve a murder in a world where people live their lives from the safety of their homes via robotic surrogates; “Whiteout” (Sept. 11), with Kate Beckinsale as a U.S. marshal investigating the first murder in Antarctica; “The Box” (Nov. 6), about a couple given a moral dilemma when they are promised $1 million if they press a button on a box, an act that will kill a stranger.

Romance will be in the air for Jennifer Aniston and Aaron Eckhart in “Love Happens” (Friday), about a self-help guru trying unsuccessfully to get over his wife’s death and the woman who has given up on love who attends one of his self-help seminars.

Relationships are building, too, in “Couples Retreat”(Oct. 9), a romantic comedy about couples trapped in a resort where they’re forced to mend their relationships. There’s more love, of the unrequited kind, in “The Invention of Lying” (Oct. 2), which revolves around a man who lives in a world where lying is unknown until he discovers that dishonesty has its rewards. Soon he’s lying his way to fame and fortune, but not into the heart of the woman he loves.

A very different sort of romance is in store in “Twilight: New Moon” (Nov. 20), the sequel to the teen vampire film “Twilight.” This time, Bella falls for the cuter vampires in her very strange circle.

Vampires are, of course, very big right now. So the bloodsuckers will also be onscreen this fall in “Daybreakers” (opened Sept. 11), about a virus that’s turned Earth circa 2017 into a vampire haven, and in “Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant” (Oct. 16), with Bozo-haired John C. Reilly as one of the stars of a freak-show circus that a young boy falls into.

Those won’t be the only horrors, however, autumn being the time of Halloween ... and “Halloween II” already in theaters, along with the latest in the “Final Destination” series about young people trying to outrun the Grim Reaper.

Coming soon will be “Zombieland” (Oct. 2), starring Woody Harrelson as a meek man trying to find refuge in a world overrun by zombies; “Sorority Row” (opened Sept. 11), about coeds who try to cover up a death and wind up paying the price for their lies; “Jennifer’s Body” (Friday), with Megan Fox as a cheerleader who, possessed by a hungry demon, begins devouring her male classmates; “Pandorum” (Sept. 25), about a pair of astronauts who awaken from hyper-sleep without a memory of who they are or what their mission is ... only realizing that they’re not alone on their mysterious spacecraft; “House of the Devil” (Oct. 30), about a babysitter who regrets taking a job in a creepy domicile; “The Stepfather” (Oct. 16), a remake of the 1987 film about a man who kills off the families he has married into when things don’t work out; and “Saw VI” (Oct. 23).

Charles Dickens’ classic holiday tale “A Christmas Carol” gets the Disney touch in “Disney’s A Christmas Carol” (Nov. 6). Jim Carrey, who once was “The Grinch,” stars as skinflint Ebenezer Scrooge who begins the holiday with his usual miserly contempt until he is visited by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come (each of which is also played by Carrey). The film, in 3-D and IMAX, was directed by Robert Zemeckis, who uses the same performance-capture animation technique he employed for his screen version of “The Polar Express”. Get ready to be awed.

There are more films coming, too -- including a remake of “Fame” (Sept. 25) -- to fill out the season. Date changes and dropouts are, of course, likely. So keep checking for updates.