Tom Cruise, Emmanuelle Beart. Director: Brian De Palma. Cruise gets physical as agent Ethan Hunt. Sounds funand incomprehensible. May 22.
Sean Connery, Nicolas Cage. The swan song from producers Simpson and Bruckheimer. Cage is trying to save hostages on Alcatraz: “I thought that was about as far as I could go from the drunk in ‘Leaving Las Vegas’.” June 7.
Jim Carrey, Matthew Broderick. Director: Ben Stiller. Single White Dork. Columbia paid Carrey $20 million, so they’ve got a lot of eggs in this basket. Says Stiller: “I met more executives on this movie than I ever knew existed.” A hit, even if it features a darker Carrey. June 14.
Disney’s animated tale may make “Pocahontas” bucks. But “Lion King” bucks? Unlikely. June 21.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Vanessa Williams. Dir: Charles Russell. Schwarzenegger erases the identities of federal witnesses. Filming ran late and over budget, but who cares if the bang is big enough. Says Williams: “Arnold’s a very giving person.” Especially on opening weekend. June 21.
Demi Moore, Burt Reynolds. Director: Andrew Bergman. Demi strips to raise cash for a custody fight. “There’s certainly nudity in the movie, but none of that cruddy stuff that was in ‘Showgirls’,” says Bergman. Last-second shoots sound like trouble. June 28. The
Eddie Murphy. Remake of the Jerry Lewis classic. Murphy’s last last chance. June 28.
John Travolta. Ordinary man turns genius. Could give people “Forrest Gump” fuzzies. July 3.
Matthew McConnaughey, Samuel L. Jackson, Sandra Bullock. Director: Joel Schumacher. John Grisham’s stab at “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Not much Bullock, but a great, star-making turn by McConnaughey. July 10.
Meg Ryan, Denzel Washington. Director: Ed Zwick. Ryan’s a (dead) gulf-war pilot up for a controversial Medal of Honor. “It examines the clichs about how a woman would behave under pressure,” says Ryan. The studio is confident enough to release the movie in July, a real battleground. July 12.
Michael Keaton. Dir: Harold Ramis. Workaholic Keaton clones himself. Sounds cute. Says Keaton: “I’ll never work with me again.” July 12.
Michael J. Fox, Trini Alvarado. Director: Peter Jackson. Fox goes ghostbusting in the first American film by the New Zealanders who made the riveting “Heavenly Creatures.” July 19.
Director: Danny Boyle. A black comic look at self-destruction in Glasgow. A huge hit in Britain, this should be an art-house fave. July 19.
Robert De Niro, Wesley Snipes. Director: Tony Scott. De Niro stalks a baseball player. “It’s about the nameless people who crave recognition and their five minutes on national TV,” says Scott. July 26.
Keanu Reeves, Morgan Freeman. Director: Andrew Davis. Scientists on the run. Could help bring Reeves back up to “Speed.” July 31.
Robin Williams. Dir: Francis Ford Coppola. Williams is a boy who ages four times too fast. A “Big” deal? Aug. 7. Tin Cup. Kevin Costner, Rene Russo. Director: Ron Shelton. Costner’s a lowlife Texas golf pro. Golf? “I hope by August people will be tired of things blowing up and will want to see a little human dance,” says Shelton. He made “Bull Durham,” so who’s to say he can’t manage a hole-in-one? Aug. 9.
Jennifer Jason Leigh, Miranda Richardson, Harry Belafonte. Dir: Robert Altman. Jazz, thugs and corrupt politicians. Expect great music, as well as magic from Richardson and Belafonte. Aug. 16.
