Boxoffice-June.1991

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TRAILERS
June Releases
As is always the case this time of year,
the majors will be juggling their summer
schedules up until the last minute in order
to position their films as best they can. Most
of the following is subject to change.
The Rocketeer
Disney, which earned praise for its
counter-programming release of
"Dead Poets Society" a couple of summers
ago, tries a new tact this season:
an escapist superhero actioner starring
someone you've never heard of. Unwilling,
we assume, to pay the high
prices of today's stars, the studio has
Alan Arkin,
Paul Sorvino, and Timothy
Dalton ("License to Kill") as the
villain. |oe lohnston, who was something
of a nobody himself until his
sleeper triumph with "Honey, I Shrunk
the Kids," directs. Judging from the
trailer, he has done so with sumptuous
visual flair. A Buena Vista release.
(6/21)
Jungle Fever
Spike Lee should make this summer
just a little hotter with the release of
this racial drama inspired by the explosive
Bensonhurst incident. The
story is set in a tense New York bor-
Sciorra ("The Hard Way") star, along
with Lee's regular ensemble. A Universal
Pictures release. (6/7)
selected newcomer Bill Campbell to
star in this period crime-fighting melodrama,
hoping he will rocket to stardom.
He plays a scientist in the '30s
who reluctantly becomes a fighter of
injustice, aided by a backpack which
allows him to fly.
Supporting Campbell are Jennifer
Connelly ("Career Opportunities"),
Billy Bathgate
A high-powered team is behind this
adaptation of E.L. Doctorow's
bestselling novel. Dustin Hoffman
and director Robert Benton, who each
earned Oscars on "Kramer vs. Kramer,"
have reunited for this period
gangland tale of an orphaned boy's
gradual corruption by his "adopted"
father, Dutch Schultz. Nicole Kidman
(whose husband, Tom Cruise, was
Hoffman's brother in "Rain Man") coough,
and it tells the tale of an interracial
romance between an African-
American man and an Italian-
American woman. Wesley Snipes
("New Jack City") and Annabella
stars, along with Bruce Willis and
newcomer Loren Dean. Playwright
Tom Stoppard ("Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern Are Dead") wrote the
screenplay. A Buena Vista release.
(6/28)
(Continued page 12)
Also in June
"Everybody's Fine" Marcello Mastroianni stars in the new film from director Giuseppe Tornatore ("Cinema Paradiso"), a
haunting, bittersweet tale of an aging patriarch and his attempts to reunite his scattered family for one final celebration. As
he travels across Italy, his trip becomes an investigation into the often disappointing lives of his five children, ultimately
culminating in the realization that he cannot shape their destinies any more than he could his own. A Miramax Films
release.
"Straight Out of Brooklyn" Nineteen-year-old writer-director-producer-actor Matty Rich was driven to make a film about
the joys and agonies of his boyhood on the streets of Brooklyn, and he turned to the community for financial help to meet
his meager budget. The result is a rough-edged, insightful look at Brooklyn's Red Hook housing project which won a Special
Jury Award at this years Sundance Film Festival. A Samuel Coldwyn release.
"Drop Dead Fred" Phoebe Cates stars as a woman whose imaginary childhood friend "Drop Dead Fred" returns to help
her recapture her dreams. With Carrie Fisher, Marsha Mason and Tim Matheson. A New Line Cinema release.
"Taikin' Dirty After Dark" This comedy stars an ensemble of unknowns and tells the story of a day in
Central L.A. comedy club. Written and directed by Topper Carew. A New Line Cinema release. (6/21
the life of a South
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