Boxoffice-July.1995

Territory, circa 1 870. Ellen Barkin ("Bad Company")
co-stars as Calamity Jane; peopling the
strong supporting cast are Diane Lane ("ludge
Dredd"), John Hurt ("Rob Roy"), Keith Carradine
(as Buffalo Bill Cody) and Bruce Dern
("Diggstown"). Richard D. Zanuck and Lili
Fini Zanuck (the "Rush" duo) produce. (DA)
Exploitips: This last gasp from the western
production revival touched off by "Unlorgiven
" has a decent shot at reproducing the
modest success of Disney's "Tombstone"
thanks to an appealing cast and the usually
sturdy hand ofhelmer Hill. The question is: Is
the public westerned out?
The Usual Suspects
A customs agent ("Bullets Over Broadway's"
Chazz Palminteri) grills a con man with cerebral
palsy ("Swimming With Sharks'" Kevin
Spacey) over his involvement with four other
notorious thieves: an ex-cop ("Trial by lury's"
Gabriel Byrne), an entry man ("Threesome's"
Stephen Baldwin! and his partner ("China
Moon's" Benecio Del Toro), and a hardware
specialist ("Clean Slate's" Kevin Pollak). Director
Bryan Singer ("Public Access") produces
with Michael McDonnell; Christopher
Mcquarrie provides the byzantine script. 5ee
our review in the April issue. (Cramercy, 8/1 8)
Exploitips: This excellent genre exercise is
the closest thing late summer has to another
"Pulp Fiction" and should he marketed to that
art-house/action-flick crowd. A lack of romance
is more than compensated for by one of
the year's cleverest scripts. Book this one now!
Learning Curves
A high-school student ("The Man in the
Moon's" Jason London) hires a math tutor
("Wayne's World's" Tia Carrere) who's
babealicious—and the teacher's wife. Christopher
McDonald ("Quiz Show") and Jeffrey
Tambor (also in "Big Bully") co-star. Director
Bruce Leddy co-scripts with Seth Greenland
("Who's the Man?"); Savoy head Bob Fried
and Richard Zinman produce. See our Sneak
Preview in this issue. (Savoy, 8/1 1
Exploitips: Curvaceous Carrere is the starof-record
in this more salacious "Paper
Chase" redux. Back-to-school tie-ins would
be dicey given the potentially irreverent material.
Aim for the teenage comedy crowd.
Mute Witness
Set to emerge from a high-profile Critics
Week sidebar launch at Cannes (which last
summer propelled "Clerks"), this Germanproduced
horror/suspense film (in English and
in unsubtitled Russian) follows a mute
makeup/special effects artist who, believing
she's witnessed the making of a snuff film,
becomes involved in intrigue involving the
KGB, Moscow police and organized crime.
Commercial director Anthony Waller makes
his writing/directing debut and produces with
Cobblestone Filmproduction CmbFH partner
Norbert Soentgen and Avrora Media GmbH
head Alexander Buchman. Sony Classics,
known for much smaller rollouts of art-house
fare, plans an 800-screen release. See our
Cannes review in this issue. (Sony Classics)
Exploitips: The Cannes seal of approval is
a draw with art-house audiences, and should
be played as such. Controversial subject matter
and solid studio promotional backing
should help generate positive word-of-mouth.
The Amazing Panda Adventure
An American boy in China goes on a quest
to rescue a baby panda from poachers. Ryan
Slater, Yi Ding and Stephen Lang ("Tall Tale")
star for director Christopher Cain ("The Next
Karate Kid"). Jeff Rothberg ("Hiding Out") and
Laurice Elehwany ("My Girl") script; Lee Rich
and Gary Foster (the "Big Bully" duo) produce
with nature documentarian John Wilcox. Previously
titled "Little Panda." (Warner, 8/1 1
Exploitips: Like "Babe," a cute animal pic.
Environmental angle can attract politically
conscious moviegoers; tie-in a local recycling
drive to position your theatre as a civic citizen.
Lord of Illusions
Scott Bakula I "Color of Night") stars as New
York private detective Harry D'Amour—a frequent
character in the horror writings of the
film's director, Clive Barker—who becomes
involved with a dead magician's wife (new
"Goldeneye" Bond girl Famke Janssen)—and
comes face to face with a satanic power.
Originally slated for February. (UA, 8/4)
Exploitips: Potentially tough sledding for a
cast of unknowns in
a film that skews a bit
differently from the horror titles Barker is normally
associated with.
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