Boxoffice-June.1995

HOLLYWOOD
REPORT
JULIA ROBERTS
Up for "Days"
STEVE MARTIN
Enlists in "Sgt. Bllko"
ANTHONY HOPKINS
Fixin' to play "Nixon"
)ulia Roberts is more than making
up for her frequent absences
from the movie industry. She'll
be seen in the upcoming TriStar
release "Mary ReiHy" and
Warner Bros.' "The Came of
Love," and has signed to star in
Buena Vista's "6 DAYS, 7
NIGHTS" and Warner Bros.'
"MICHAEL COLLINS." "6
Days" is a romantic adventurecomedy
about a woman who
ditches her boyfriend during
their tropical island vacation
after he refuses to marry her. In
her attempts to return home, she
convinces a pilot to fly her to
Tahiti's airport. But his rickety
aircraft crash-lands on a small,
isolated island, and the two
must endure each other. In "Michael
Collins," a drama about
the Irish revolutionary leader
who fought the Black & Tans to
free Ireland from British rule in
the early 1900s, Roberts will
star with Liam Neeson ("Rob
Roy") and Stephen Rea ("The
Crying Came"). Neeson takes
the title role; Roberts will plays
his lover, Kitty. Lensing begins
in June. Director Neil Jordan
("Interview With the Vampire")
also wrote the screenplay.
"SGT. BILKO" This Steve Martin
starrer, directed by Jonathan
Lynn ("My Cousin Vinny"), is
about a wheeler-dealer master
sergeant who supposedly runs
Fort Baxter's motor pool, but
spends most of his time trying to
rook his fellow soldiers. When
Army officials from Washington
threaten to shut down the base,
Bil ko must come to the rescue
or risk losing his profitable operation.
Andy Breckman wrote
the screenplay based on the
classic television series. "Saturday
Night Live" fellow alumni
Dan Aykroyd, Phil Hartmanand
Chris Rock co-star. (Universal)
"THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD"
Vincent D'Onofrio ("Stuart
Saves His Family") and Olivia
D'Abo ("Greedy") have been
cast in this Depression-era story
about a young teacher's relationship
with a fantasy fiction
writer. The film is based on a
memoir by Novalyne Price Ellis
about her encounters with
"Conan the Barbarian" author
Robert E. Howard. Newcomer
Dan Ireland directs. Shooting is
scheduled to begin in July. r3istribution
is to be set.
"I SHOT ANDY WARHOL" Lili
Taylor ("Short Cuts"), Jared Harris
("Tall Tale"), Stephen Dorff
("S.F.W.") and Martha Plimpton
("Mrs. Parker and the Vicious
Circle") will star in this comedy
written and directed by Mary
Harron. Taylor plays Valerie
Solanas, who won her 1 5 minutes
of fame by shooting and
wounding Andy Warhol in the
1960s. Harris will portray the
popart icon himself. Dorff takes
what promises to be a scenestealing
role as famed Warhol
groupie and transvestite Candy
Darling. (Coldwyn)
"FARGO" Coen Bros, veterans
Frances McDormand ("Blood
Simple," "Miller's Crossing"
and "Raising Arizona") and
Steve Buscemi ("Miller's Crossing,"
"Barton Fink" and "The
Hudsucker Proxy") will star in
Joel and Ethan's latest effort, a
tale of greed, deceit and multiple
murder in a small town.
W.H. Macy ("Homicide") will
also star. (Cramercy)
"PINOCCHIO" Oscar winner
Martin Landau ("Ed Wood") and
Jonathan Taylor Thomas ("Man
of the House") have been cast in
starts shooting in early July.
Steve Barron ("Teenage Mutant
Ninja Turtles") directs. (Savoy)
a live-action version of the classic
Carlo Collodi story about a
woodcutter, Cepetto (Landau),
and his marionette, Pinocchio
(Thomas), who is brought to life
by the magic of the Blue Fairy.
Taylor will wrap "Tom Sawyer"
a few weeks before "Pinnochio"
"ERASER" Arnold Schwarzenneger
("True Lies") has agreed to
star in this action thriller as a
cynical U.S. marshal working in
the Witness Protection Program
who locks horns with a duplicitous
fellow agent perpetrating a
government cover-up. Chuck
Russell ("The Mask") directs.
(Warner Bros.)
"FLIPPER" Another television
show is reinterpreted for the silver
screen, this one featuring the
friendly and intelligent dolphin
of NBC's 1964-68 series. Paul
Hogan ("Lightning Jack") has
signed to star as Uncle Porter,
an eccentric ex-hippie fisherman
who must tame his rebellious
nephew and battle evil
industry moguls who are dumping
toxic waste into the ocean.
Talk about an environmental
film—even the idea's recycled!
The movie is slated for a summer
1996 release. (Universal)
"NIXON" An a ll-star cast is
being assemble d for Oliver
Stone's ("JFK") I atesi political
drama. Anthony Hopkins will
star as Richard Ni xon in this film
which will cxami ne the late torcareer.
Also
mer president's
starring will be Paul Sorvino
("The Rocketec r") as Henry
Kissinger; Joan Allen ("Searching
for Bobby Fischer") as Pat
Nixon; James Woods ("The Specialist")
as H.R. Haldeman; Bob
Hoskins ("Super Mario Bros.")
as J. Edgar Hoover; J.T. Walsh
("A Few Good Men") as John
Ehrlichman; John Diehl (TV's
"Miami Vice") as C. Cordon
Liddy; David Hyde Pierce (TV's
"Frasier") as John Dean; Peter
O'Toole ("My Favorite Year") as
Richard Helms; Mary Steenburgen
("Pontiac Moon") as
Nixon's mother; and Annabeth
Cish ("Mystic Pizza") as Julie
Nixon Eisenhower. Stone is cowriting
the script with Stephen
J. Rivele and Christopher Wilkinson.
(Buena Vista)
"MY BLOCKBUSTER" Michael
Richards, who plays the eccentric
Cosmo Kramer on television's
"Seinfeld," will star in
this comedy as a quirky tollbooth
attendant who is also an
aspiring filmmaker. Sometimes
truth is stranger than fiction;
could this be based on the true
story of "Pulp Fiction's" Quentin
Tarantino, who just a few
years ago was a quirky video
store attendant and aspiring
filmmaker? Richards co-wrote
the script with Steve Adams.
(Columbia)
ET CETERA: Mar\on Brando and
Debra Winger will star in "Divine
Rapture," a dark romantic
comedy about an Irish priest
who tries to mold an introverted
woman into a saint. ..British
actor Ben Chaplin ("Feast of
July") will play Janeane
Garofalo's ("Reality Bites") love
interest in 20th Century Fox's
"The Truth About Cats and
Dogs," a Cyrano-esque romantic
comedy which also stars
Uma Thurman ("Pulp Fiction").
..lason Scott Lee ("The
jungle Book") takes the title role
in "Buddha," a story which follows
the spiritual leader's path
to enlightenment in India. Ron
Fricke ("Baraka") will direct.
..Oscar winners Gene
Hackman and Dianne Wiest
have joined the cast of the Robin
Williams starrer "Birds of a
Feather," a United Artists remake
of "La Cage Aux Folles"...
Linda Fiorentino ("The Last Seduction")
will star opposite Ray
Liotta in MGM's "Unforgettable,"
a murder mystery with a
sci-fi twist. ..Daniel Day-Lewis
("In the Name of the Father") has
signed to star in Fox's "The Crucible,"
based on the Arthur
Miller play about the 1 7lh century
Salem witch trials. Filming
will begin in September. The
film is scheduled lor rele.ise in
1996.
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