
DATE: Thursday, May 22, 1997                TAG: 9705220044

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, ENTERTAINMENT WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:  314 lines

SUMMER MOVIE PREVIEW MOVIE STUDIOS PROMISE A SIZZLING SUMMER AS HIGH-PRICED BLOCKBUSTERS HIT THE THEATERS.

FASTEN YOUR SEAT BELT. This summer, you can cruise at high speed or go down in luxury. You can fight aliens or Russian terrorists. You can choose between Batman and Robin or Julia Roberts.

Grab a cold soda and park your brain.

It's summer at the movies, and the usual helping of sequels and explosive action flicks are planned. But with a difference: Never has so much moola been risked.

Studios always have a lot riding on the summer box office, but this year, the most expensive investment in movie history, purse strings are really dangling. Before Labor Day, some 10 movies costing upwards of $100 million each will be released. Disney, which led the pack the last three years, is banking on ``Hercules,'' ``Con Air'' and ``Conspiracy Theory.''

Nothing less than record attendance will be necessary for investors to break even. The money men, though, aren't biting their nails. Instead, they're breaking out the champagne.

Forget crossed fingers, there is every indication that this will be the most successful movie summer ever.

Why? Admissions rose 6 percent last year. More than 1.3 billion people went to the movies in this country, the most since 1959. The world market is bigger. For the first time, attendance overseas topped that in the United States. Home video provides added income.

Megaplexes continue to sprout up. In keeping with national trends, more than 50 screens will be added locally in the next year or so: the Strawbridge Marketplace 12 on General Booth Boulevard in Virginia Beach; 18 at the MacArthur Center in downtown Norfolk; 26 in Newport News.

There is no place for ``small'' movies this summer. Only home runs will do, and openings are being shifted daily for maximum gain. The studios have it planned so that you can go to one ``event'' movie per week. The big question: What about ``Titanic''? If it opens July 25 as planned, it will go head-to-head with Harrison Ford's ``Air Force One.'' Neither side wants that.

Some studios have pulled out of the summer race altogether. ``Great Expectations,'' ``Alien Resurrection,'' ``Home Alone 3'' and ``The Flood'' aren't due at least until fall.

Meantime, get out your calendars, remembering that release dates are subject to change.

FRIDAY

``Addicted to Love.'' Cast against type, Meg Ryan and Matthew Broderick play wronged lovers who decide to get even with their exes. It's the directorial debut of actor Griffin Dunne. But will Ryan's fans accept her as a freaked-out harridan? Will Broderick's think he's too much like that victim in ``The Cable Guy''? In any case, it has stiff competition.

``The Lost World: Jurassic Park.'' Following a mobbed sneak preview Wednesday, more of the same is expected at special late shows tonight at 10. (Check the papers.) The extra screenings are clear proof that Universal wants to set a record this weekend, even if it means starting the weekend early. It's darker and more gruesome than the first one.

NEXT THURSDAY

``Madame Butterfly.'' Richard Troxell, a veteran of Virginia Opera, has the role of Pinkerton in this film version of the Puccini opera directed by Frederic Mitterand (nephew of the former French president). Ying Huang has the tragic title role. Opera on film is a tricky thing to bring off.

MAY 30

``Trial and Error.'' Lawyer Jeff Daniels gets so potted at his bachelor party, he can't make his big case. His best friend, an unemployed actor played by Michael Richards of ``Seinfeld,'' takes his place. Jonathan Lynn, who got jokes in ``My Cousin Vinny,'' is the director. Will there be more error than trial?

``When We Were Kings.'' This Oscar-winning documentary chronicles the ``Rumble in the Jungle'' - the heavyweight title fight in Zaire between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. Narrated by Norman Mailer, George Plimpton and Spike Lee, the film has the suspense of being new while it re-creates a well-known sports event.

JUNE 6

``Con Air.'' ``The Dirty Dozen'' goes airborne. A prison-transfer flight is taken over by nasty John Malkovich and crashes into Las Vegas. Nicolas Cage, who made the transition from a dying alcoholic to action star in last summer's ``The Rock,'' stars. Sean Connery was his co-star then. Can Cage bring it off? Disney moved it up a week to get a head start on ``Speed 2.''

``Buddy.'' After holding her own with Mel Gibson, Clint Eastwood, Dustin Hoffman and Kevin Costner, Rene Russo gets a starring role. Don't write off this monkey movie too quickly. It's based on a true story. Russo plays a 1920s socialite who raised animals in her mansion. The movie takes an adult view of parenting and bonding.

``Kolya.'' From Czechoslovakia, this year's Oscar-winner for Best Foreign Language Film is heartwarming, but not in a cloying way. An aging Casanova finds himself saddled with a 6-year-old boy. They learn from each other. Young Andrei Chalimon steals the show.

JUNE 13

``Speed 2: Cruise Control.'' Just when you thought it was safe to travel, Sandra Bullock is loose again. This time, she's on the sea and she has a new boyfriend. Keanu Reeves, who opted to tour with his rock band, has been replaced by brooding Jason Patric. Trying to animate him may be the real challenge of returning director Jan De Bont. Willem Dafoe hijacks the ship. But what are you going to crash into out there?

``The Daytrippers.'' A day trip to New York City, looking for a cheating husband, is the setting for this comedy starring Anne Meara, Pat McNamara, Hope Davis, Stanley Tucci, Liev Schreiber and Parker Posey. Davis suspects her husband may be having an affair. The others help track him down.

JUNE 20

``Batman and Robin.'' Holy Batmoney! The fourth installment in the franchise is getting closer to the wacky TV series and further from the dark drama that Tim Burton brought to the first - and best - of the lot. Joel Schumacher, who directed the exhausting ``Batman Forever,'' promises more villains and laughs. Arnold Schwarzenegger is earning $25 million as Mr. Freeze. Uma Thurman is Poison Ivy. George Clooney now models the black rubber suit; reportedly, this Batman is no brooder. Chris O'Donnell is a cocky Robin and pudgy Alicia Silverstone is Batgirl.

``Ulee's Gold.'' Peter Fonda, comeback star of the summer? Word is the easy rider turns in a fine performance as a beekeeper grandfather assigned to raise the trouble-making daughters of his convict son. There is already some Oscar talk for Fonda.

``Waiting for Guffman.'' Amateur theater can be a hoot, and that's the goal of this mock documentary directed by Christopher Guest (star of ``This Is Spinal Tap''). It's about a pageant being presented in a small Missouri town. The stagestruck director, Corky St. Clair (Guest), declares he's going to give it Broadway glitter, or else.

JUNE 25

``The Eighth Day.'' Daniel Auteuil, playing a salesman whose life has fallen apart, and Pascal Duquenne, a likable fellow with Down syndrome, shared Best Actor awards last year at Cannes. Their characters learn how to live.

JUNE 26

``Love! Valor! Compassion!'' Playwright Terrence McNally won a Tony for exploring the human condition with humor and imagination. It concerns eight gay men who meet at a beach cottage annually for summer weekends. The original Broadway cast is back for the movie version, with the exception of Nathan Lane. He's replaced by Jason Alexander of ``Seinfeld.''

JUNE 27

``Hercules.'' After the rather dark adventures of a horny hunchback and the rewriting of Virginia history with ``Pocahontas,'' Disney goes for laughs with its 35th full-length animated feature. It's created by the same team behind ``Aladdin'' and ``The Little Mermaid.'' James Woods and Bobcat Goldthwait provide some of the voices. The songs are by multi-Oscar winner Alan Menken.

``Face Off.'' Nicholas Cage is a murderer who killed the son of FBI agent John Travolta. When the agent goes to prison (don't ask how), they change identities. John Woo, of the Hong Kong Woos, directed. It may have the summer's most laughably dramatic line: ``You're wearing the face of the man who killed your son.''

``My Best Friend's Wedding.'' Julia Roberts, no fun in ``Mary Reilly'' or ``Michael Collins,'' is counting on this romantic comedy as punch one in a two-punch comeback summer. She and best friend Dermot Mulroney had made a pact that they'd marry each other if they didn't marry someone else by age 28. When he plans to wed Cameron Diaz, Roberts plans her move. ``I do'' is not so easy to say.

JULY 2

``Men in Black.'' Zap those aliens and go for the punchline. Tommy Lee Jones isn't known for comedy; nonetheless, humor mixed with action is the order for this predicted hit. Will Smith, Jones' partner, starred in last summer's ``Independence Day.'' They're elite officers called upon to monitor the activities of aliens. Director Barry Sonnenfeld (``The Addams Family,'' ``Get Shorty'') has a way with comedy.

``Out to Sea.'' Those grumpy old men are back. Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon play two old guys who pose as dance teachers on a cruise, hoping to pick up rich old dames. They have devious plans, but the goal is broad laughs.

``Wild America.'' Mountain lions, snakes, alligators and bears co-star in this nature trip about three teenagers who risk their lives to film animals in their natural habitats. ``Home Improvement'' heartthrob Jonathan Taylor Thomas stars.

JULY 11

``Contact.'' Give it points for breaking the summer mold by actually trying to say something. Based on Carl Sagan's 1985 novel, it has existential questions about what's out there and what is the ultimate being. Jodie Foster plays an astronomer who makes contact with extraterrestrials. Matthew McConaughey is a government adviser. It's the first project for director Robert Zemeckis since his Oscar for ``Forrest Gump.''

JULY 16

``Nothing to Lose.'' Fomer local bridegroom Martin Lawrence gets another chance with this buddy-gone-haywire comedy. He plays a carjacker who kidnaps ad exec Tim Robbins, and lives to regret it. Steve Oedekerk ( ``Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls'') directed.

JULY 18

``George of the Jungle.'' Real folks playing cartoons have had mixed rewards. ``The Flintstones'' was a hit despite itself. Then, there's ``The Phantom,'' which should have done better, and ``Tank Girl,'' which deserved its fate. Based on the Jay Ward 1960s cartoon series, Brendan Fraser plays the clumsy George. He smashes into trees and ends up in San Francisco trying to save the wise Ape (voice of John Cleese).

``Mimic.'' Mira Sorvino, who won an Oscar by playing dumb, is threatened by genetic engineering. Mexico's Guillermo del Toro, who directed the creepy ``Cronos,'' makes his American debut. John Sayles (``Lone Star'') and Steven Soderbergh (``sex, lies and videotape'') are among the co-writers.

JULY 25

``Air Force One.'' Gutsy President Harrison Ford and the first family are kidnapped by a Russian terrorist. (Is detente over already?) Gary Oldman raves a lot and tries a Russian accent. Glenn Close is cast as the vice president - a step down since she was the first lady in ``Mars Attacks.'' Director Wolfgang Petersen (``Das Boot'') takes to an airplane the way he did to a submarine.

``Conspiracy Theory.'' Is the chemistry there? Mel Gibson and Julia Roberts co-star in this romantic comedy about a paranoid New York cab driver (him) and a spicy lawyer (her). He believes that NASA is trying to kill the president with an earthquake. No one believes him . . . until. Gibson got $20 million for his troubles.

``Titanic.'' Nauticus should have kept those artifacts until this bonanza opens, but that could be a long wait. The studio still claims July 25 is a possibility. Costs have spiraled to over $200 million, making this the most expensive movie ever. And it's not ready yet? Do you get that sinking feeling? James Cameron directed in the largest tank ever built. The personal story has rich girl Kate Winslet falling in love with poor boy Leonardo DiCaprio.

JULY 30

``187.'' Samuel L. Jackson is a high-school teacher who lets his students know that he doesn't intend to be their victim. He leaves Brooklyn for Los Angeles. The script is by a former teacher in the Los Angeles school system. It's a blackboard jungle out there.

AUG. 1

``Cop Land.'' Rocky with a pot tummy? Sylvester Stallone has decided to put on weight and prove he's an actor after all. He plays the hearing-impaired sheriff of a small New Jersey town. His friends are New York cops, but, suddenly, he finds out they're crooked. Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta and Harvey Keitel are also in the cast.

``Leave It to Beaver'' Will things ever be that ``nice'' again? The TV series that epitomized family values gets the big-screen treatment. Where ``The Brady Bunch'' satirized the original, this one promises to update without really spoofing. Mom now wears jeans and has a cookie business. The Beav is played by Cameron Finley, whoever he is. Couldn't we just have our memories?

``Mortal Kombat II: Annihilation.'' Haven't we seen this before? There hasn't even been time for a new audience to grow. Surprise! The heroes are battling an evil warlord.

``Picture Perfect.'' Jennifer Aniston (``Friends'') plays a career woman who feels she won't get promoted unless she finds a fiance. She displays a photograph, taken with a stranger, and announces that he's Mr. Right. Then, she meets the real guy. Glenn Gordon Caron, who created the TV series ``Moonlighting,'' directed.

AUG. 8

``Desperate Measures'' Suspense time. Andy Garcia plays a cop chasing a murderous prison escapee (Michael Keaton). The murderer is just one step removed from Hannibal Lecter, but has one saving grace: He is the only one who can contribute bone marrow that could save Garcia's son. Poor Andy has to protect the very man he hates.

``Air Bud.'' What would the summer be without a boy and his dog? Add basketball, just to be safe. Buddy is mistreated by a boozed-up clown. He's adopted by 12-year-old Kevin Zegers, who learns the pooch can also play basketball. We've got to see Buddy slam dunk before we believe it.

AUG. 15

``Excess Baggage.'' She isn't ``Clueless'' anymore. Alicia Silverstone plays a snooty rich girl who stages her own kidnapping in order to get Daddy's attention. Except that she's kidnapped for real by a shyster car thief. Silverstone, only 20, also produced the film - and reportedly clashed often with director Marco Brambilla. Columbia has given Silverstone a two-picture deal worth $8 million. One hit, and that's the way studio heads think nowadays.

``Free Willy 3: The Rescue.'' How many times can poor Willy need rescuing? Maybe they should make a movie about a rubber boy who is saved by a real live whale.

``She's De Lovely.'' Sean Penn won the Best Actor award at Cannes for playing an ex-con with a fiery temper. (Those French folks actually thought he was acting). His wife (real-life wife Robin Wright) has married John Travolta. Wright now has to make a choice. The script is by legendary rebel John Cassavetes; the director is his son, Nick.

Aug. 22

``The Full Monty.'' This is the kind of comedic material that could become a sleeper hit. Six tough Australian steelworkers lose their jobs. Desperate for work, they decide to put together a Chippendales-like male strip act - even though they are ill-equipped for the venture. They strut their stuff to old Donna Summer tunes.

``Spawn.'' Yet-another movie based on a comic book. Michael Jai White is the hero. John Leguizamo is Clown, the repulsive villain.

AUG. 29

``Hoodlum.'' Andy Garcia plays Lucky Luciano in this gangster yarn set in Harlem during the 1930s. Bumpy Johnson (Laurence Fishburne) is trigger happy to keep Dutch Schultz (Tim Roth) off his territory.

``Boogie Nights.'' This long-delayed study of the freewheeling 1970s porn industry stars Mark Wahlberg and Julianne Moore.

``Kull the Conqueror.'' Kevin Sorbo, star of the hit syndicated TV series, ``Hercules,'' gets a big-screen vechicle. Remember, Arnold started this way. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos

``THE LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK''

OPENING: FRIDAY

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS

Universal Studios hopes to set box office records this weekend with

the opening of the ``Jurassic Park'' sequel, which is darker and

more gruesome than the original. Jeff Goldblum returns as chaos

theory expert Ian Malcolm.

``SPEED 2: CRUISE CONTROL''

OPENING: JUNE 13

20TH CENTURY FOX

Damsel-in-distress Sandra Bullock gets top billing in the

action-packed sequel, set aboard a cruise ship. Jason Patric