Focus Features has updated the release information on their upcoming films for 2008, which includes the stop-motion animated Coraline, directed by Henry Selick based on the book by Neil Gaiman; also up this year, Gus Van Sant’s Milk; Hamlet 2, which debuted at this year’s Sundance Festival; and Burn After Reading, a dark spy-comedy from Joel and Ethan Coen starring George Clooney, John Malkovich, Frances McDormand, Brad Pitt, and Tilda Swinton.

See released dates, cast/crew info, and official synopsis for each film below.

CORALINE
Release Date: Dec. 2008 (limited), Feb. 6, 2009 (nationwide)
Synopsis: A high-definition stop-motion animated feature – the first to be originally filmed in 3-D – with spectacular CG effects, based on Neil Gaiman’s international best-selling book. A young girl (Dakota Fanning) walks through a secret door in her new home and discovers an alternate version of her life. On the surface, this parallel reality is eerily similar to her real life – only much better. But when this wondrously off-kilter, fantastical adventure turns dangerous, and her counterfeit parents (including Other Mother [Teri Hatcher]) try to keep her forever, Coraline must count on her resourcefulness, determination, and bravery to get back home – and save her family.

Director: Henry Selick (“Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas”)
Writers: Henry Selick; Based on the book by Neil Gaiman
Cast: Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders, Ian McShane

MILK
Release Date: TBD 2008
Synopsis: Academy Award nominee Gus Van Sant directs Academy Award winner Sean Penn as gay-rights icon Harvey Milk. Mr. Milk (1930-1978) was an activist and politician, and the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in America ; in 1977, he was voted to the city supervisors’ board of San Francisco . The following year, both he and the city’s mayor George Moscone were shot to death by another city supervisor, Dan White. Mr. Milk was previously the subject of the Academy Award-winning documentary feature “The Times of Harvey Milk,” but “Milk” is the first non-documentary feature to explore the man’s life and career. “Milk” is being filmed on location in San Francisco.

Director: Gus Van Sant (“Good Will Hunting,” “My Own Private Idaho”)
Writer: Dustin Lance Black (“Big Love”)
Cast: Sean Penn, Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin, Diego Luna, James Franco

BURN AFTER READING
Release Date: September 12, 2008
Synopsis: A dark spy-comedy from Academy Award winners Joel and Ethan Coen. An ousted CIA official’s (Academy Award nominee John Malkovich) memoir accidentally falls into the hands of two unwise gym employees intent on exploiting their find.

Writers/Directors: Joel and Ethan Coen (“No Country for Old Men,” “ Fargo ”)
Cast: George Clooney, John Malkovich, Frances McDormand, Brad Pitt, Tilda Swinton

HAMLET 2
Release Date: August 22 (limited); August 29 (nationwide)
Story: A world premiere at – and the comedy smash of – the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. In the irreverent comedy, a failed actor-turned-worse-high-school-drama teacher (Steve Coogan) rallies his Tucson, AZ students as he conceives and stages a politically incorrect musical sequel to Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

Director: Andrew Fleming (“Dick,” “Threesome”)
Writers: Andrew Fleming and Pam Brady (“ South Park ,” “Team America ”)
Cast: Steve Coogan, Catherine Keener, Amy Poehler, David Arquette, Elisabeth Shue