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THE FORMER DEAD GUY on “Grey’s,” also known as Jeffrey Dean Morgan, will officially be hot as of the March 6 release of “Watchmen.” Moreover audiences may miss Uma Thurman after watching her on all of those “Kill Bill” reruns on TBS. So the romantic comedy “Accidental Husband” seems to have a lot going for it. But the trailer hits and misses (don’t go looking for Oscar Wilde source material here). And we’re not sure we believe Morgan’s Brooklyn accent. Even worse: the studio bumped the original opening date from August of last year – and now won’t even commit on its website to its scheduled March 27 release. This romantic comedy could be a clunker, folks, so we’ll recommend no higher than $12 million.

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THE OPERATIVE WORD in the trailer for “The Haunting in Connecticut” is “based,” as in “based on a true story.” We’re not sure what part is actually true in this movie about a single mom and her two children who move into an apparently possessed house in Northern Connecticut. But somehow we doubt it’s fresh apples turning rotten once you bite them, or a hand coming out of little brother’s mouth. We’re more likely inclined to believe that the family made up that crap after getting foreclosed with a subprime mortgage. Anyway, you know what you’re getting with this “Amityville” imitation, and Virginia Madsen promises to deliver. $20 million tops.

SEE THE MARKETS: HICKS, CLARKSON

“AMERICAN IDOL” ONCE again is ready to exercise its annual domination of the national psyche. So it’s no surprise former “Idol” winners Taylor Hicks and Kelly Clarkson are getting in on the gold-rush with new releases of their own, both dropping on March 10. Insiders would see the matchup as one-sided. Hicks famously lost his recording deal after one album and is frequently cited as an “Idol” bust. Clarkson, however, is such a household name that, we’re sure, plenty of 12-year-olds don’t know how she got famous in the first place. But facts have a way of being stubborn: despite the folklore, both of their latest efforts peaked at No. 2. Will the pundits be defied by the Taylor Hicks Soul Patrol once again – or will Clarkson prove too much to handle? We’ll launch top-five markets for them both and let you decide.

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IT’S BEEN SLOW in the music world since the Christmas-Grammy rush, and U2 plans to whip things up with a major release with strong odds to debut at No. 1. It’s not been a smooth ride. Recently someone at Universal Music Australia accidentally uploaded the new album a week early to a promotional website. The band quickly responded by making all of “No Line on the Horizon” available for streaming on its MySpace page. End result: news stories, publicity, and even more slam-dunk certainty that U2 will once again claim the top spot.

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“MONSTERS VS. ALIENS” has been a long time coming in the hype machine, and may represent DreamWorks Animation’s biggest challenge yet to the dominance of Disney’s Pixar. We like their chances this time. As everyone knows, Pixar has yet another offering in the pipeline this summer – but our early hunch is that “Up” will be the first clunker in the studio’s near-perfect slate. But “Monsters Vs. Aliens” looks big, offering manic characters and a happy-go-lucky premise (aliens invade, government-captured monsters are loosed to defend the world). Somehow we think its insanity will appeal to parents and kids alike in these trying times. Look for a take in the $40s for this Spring Break hit.

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“CUPID” PAYS HOMAGE to a lot we’ve seen before. First, it revives the short-lived 1998 drama of the same name, which starred Jeremy Piven and earned a cult following. Then there’s the half-crazy character who may, or may not, be on an otherworldly mission (see “Eli Stone”). Moreover he says it’s his duty to make true love happen (see CW’s “Valentine”). One catch with all of the precedents above: they all got canceled. But we’ll also say that the trailer has some funny moments, and co-star Sarah Paulson can be an acting machine. Five episodes? Maybe. Probably. But we doubt Cupid will earn the love after that.

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“KINGS” MAKES A SMART move in duplicating the “alternate history” premise of the sure-to-be-successful “Watchmen.” Where that movie gives us an alternate take on the ’80s, “Kings” gives us a world in which America is a monarchy. (Bible scholars are high-fiving over the fact that the ensuing plot is a modern-day retelling of the King David story.) The trailer and the Wikipedia page, as of press time, don’t offer much more than that, but at the same time clever NBC markers have splashed the king’s orange-butterfly logo everywhere in sight. Five episodes is a slam dunk. But renewal – that will be one of the big questions of the spring.

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THE MARCH 20th weekend is loaded enough with “I Love You, Man” and “Duplicity.” Now throw big-budget thriller, “Knowing.” The premise: Nicholas Cage opens up a time capsule with a code that, lo and behold, predicted every major disaster of the past 50 years. But the code keeps going (!) and predicts apocalyptic events on the way. While the sci-fi premise somewhat recalls Cage’s disastrous “Next” ($7.1). “Knowing” tends more toward a disaster film a la “The Day After Tomorrow” ($68.7) or the more recent “The Day the Earth Stood Still” ($30.4). But with all its CGI, we’re far more psyched for the low-budget hijinks in “Duplicity” or “I Love You, Man.” Mid twenties, maybe more.

SEE THE MARKET FOR “DUPLICITY”

MARCH IS SHAPING up to be a busy month. With sure-fire hit “Watchmen” still in theaters, the March 20 weekend will bring us two upper-middle-class films in “Duplicity” and “I Love You, Man.” So competition will be a consideration. Even so, we see good things for this smart thriller. The premise: Clive Owen and Julia Roberts have a steamy affair, decide to get rich together, and so each take jobs as heads of espionage for two dueling corporations. They conveniently scheme to steal a formula worth millions. We like the paring, and the trailer has some zingers. (Julia: “If I told you I loved you would it make a difference?” Clive: “If you told me, or if I believed you?”) Buy while you can, as twenty million won’t be a barrier for “Duplicity.”

SEE THE MARKET FOR “I LOVE YOU, MAN”

THE PREMISE GETS summed up well in the trailer: somewhat effeminate guy engaged to be married (Paul Rudd), has no dude-friends to ask to be his best man. So he decides to befriend his real estate agent (Jason Segel) and recruit him for the job. The bro-mance ensues. Funny? Definitely. And while it might be tough to build two hours of comedy around that alone, this film is all about hamming it up – which should be easy when the supporting cast includes Andy Samberg (SNL) and Rashida Jones (“Office”). Similarly themed “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” opened to a slightly disappointing $17m last April, but we predict that downtrodden audiences seeking laughs will push this one a few million higher.

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“CASTLE” WILL SURPRISE a lot of people, we think. The not-too-original premise of this “witty drama” – that’s what they’re calling the genre these days – depicts a rakish crime novelist who teams up with a female cop to solve cases. But Nathan Fillion (“Firefly,” “Desperate Housewives”) is one of those actors who wears well; we can even see him getting pretty big with time. Moreover the goofy crime-solving duo has worked with “Psych” on USA. This one will lack the edginess of that show, but that should play better with mainstream ABC audiences anyway. The 10 p.m. slot is never enviable these days, but this “Castle” won’t crumble before five episodes.

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DWAYNE “THE ROCK” JOHNSON tried his hand at being a Schwarzenegger replacement (as in “Doom”), but the real success came in with the seemingly modest family film “The Game Plan,” which opened to $22 million and cashed in to $147 million worldwide. “Race to Witch Mountain” similarly taps into “The Rock’s” newfound family appeal, albeit this time with more car chases and special effects. CGI animation has been inundating the marketplace, so we think parents will welcome actual humans acting in this film. And with the adult-themed “Watchmen” still in theaters – and with “Miss March” and “Last House on the Left” opening the same weekend – there’s no demographic competition in sight. Look for $25 million or more from “Race.”