LOS ANGELES — This year's holiday movie season is short on established franchises and long on what could either be new hits or abysmal flops.

After a crowded summer that catapulted box-office numbers to new heights, there is no Harry Potter or Spider-Man left to invade screens this Christmas. So Hollywood is betting on original films that they hope will one day have franchise potential, along with a number of so-called "prestige" features designed to capture critical acclaim and awards honors.

With the studios mainly gambling on untested products, it appears to be a long shot that the industry will reach the lofty $10 billion mark that it hoped for in total domestic receipts, even though it racked up $4 billion for the first time this summer. The reason? Hollywood hit a speed bump in mid-September when year-over-year weekend receipts started declining, and it has yet to pull out of that slump.

To do so, the industry needs a strong two months of at least $2 billion, which may be out of reach without a surefire hit on the schedule like "Pirates of the Caribbean" or "Shrek."

"We normally have more sequels or franchises out at this time," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers. "I think there's got to be a little bit of concern in Hollywood because without the sequels, the summer wouldn't have been as successful as it was."

The lack of sequels for the holidays comes on the heels of a record summer for Hollywood, where entries from virtually all major franchises were in theaters, including "Spider-Man 3," "Shrek the Third" and "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," as well as "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix." The "Spider-Man," "Shrek" and "Pirates" films all were crowded around each other in May.

Along with "Transformers," another summer entry, these films rank No. 1 through 5 in domestic box-office receipts year to date. Each of them raked in at least $300 million, except for "Harry Potter," which was just a shade under that threshold at $292 million.

The holiday schedule also is making theater owners wonder whether they, along with the studios, missed out on an even bigger haul because so many franchise films took business away from each other during the summer.

Patrick Corcoran, spokesman for the National Association for Theatre Owners, says the group is calling on Hollywood to make more big releases in the spring and fall and make it a "12-month season."

"There was a lot of money left on the table (this summer) where viewers could have seen these movies if they were more spread out," Corcoran said. "I think everybody put all their eggs into the summer."

Still, this year's holiday slate is reminiscent of the 2006 Christmas season, which provided an upbeat ending that year. A new James Bond film, "Casino Royale," was the only established franchise to make an appearance.

The season was instead ruled by such hits as "Happy Feet" and "Night at the Museum." But those two films never cracked the $200 million mark in domestic receipts during the Christmas season. Ultimately, the season was down slightly from the year before, with revenue coming in at $1.86 billion vs. $1.88 billion in 2005.

Last year's lineup stood in contrast to years past, when "Lord of the Rings" and "Harry Potter" movies stuffed the industry's stockings with late goodies. The question for 2007 is whether the remains of the year turn out to be tasty morsels or just crumbs.

As for releases right at the Christmas holiday, nothing says happy holidays like "Alien vs. Predator — Requiem," the only other sequel on tap for the season. Due out Dec. 25, it's a follow-up to 2004's "Alien vs. Predator."

Meantime, Paramount and DreamWorks are releasing "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street." Reportedly a rather bloody adaptation of the hit musical, "Todd" features Johnny Depp as the overzealous tonsorial artist. It hits theaters the Friday before Christmas.

"Sweeney Todd" is one of a number of the prestige films that Hollywood hopes will at least capture some awards gold, if not an outright box-office bonanza.

Also on Dec. 25, box-office darlings Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts will co-star in Universal's "Charlie Wilson's War." This drama is based on a true story about a congressman who covertly aided Afghan rebels in their fight against the Soviets in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The movie contends his actions spawned the terrorist groups behind the 9/11 attacks.