Boxoffice-Febuary.1998

HOLLYWOOD
REPORT
ELISABETH SHUE
Good Golly, Miss "Molly"
BILL MURRAY
Mounts "Rushmore"
"MOLLY" Elisabeth Shue ("The
Saint") will portray an autistic
girl who undergoes a treatment
that turns her into a genius in
this John Duigan ("The Leading
Man")-helmed film. (MGM)
"PLANET ICE" On the heels of
the success of its feature animation
debut "Anastasia," Fox has
begun casting the voices for its
next foray in the genre, a futuristic
sci-fi adventure in which
the Earth has been destroyed by
an alien race. Nineteen-yearold
Cale (voiced by Matt
Damon) finds a map leading to
a treasure that may be able to
save mankind. He teams up
with a crew that includes characters
voiced by Bill Pullman,
Drew Barrymore, Nathan Lane
and Hank Azaria on a quest for
the mythic Planet Ice. (Fox)
"SIGHT UNSEEN" Val
Kilmer
will play a man who's born blind
and undergoes an experimental
operation to restore his sight in
this romantic drama. Mira
Sorvino ("The Replacement Killers")
will play his love interest,
while Kelly McGillis ("North")
portrays his sister. Irwin Winkler
("The Net") helms. (MGM)
"EXACTLY 3:30" Sandra Bullock
will star in and produce this
romantic comedy about a
woman who is always late, to
the escalating annoyance of her
fiance. In order to ensure she
makes it to the weddi ng on ti me,
she starts seeing a psychiatrist,
but winds up falling in love with
him. (Buena Vista)
"CHICKEN RUN" Aardman
Studios, the animation company
behind the "Wallace and
Gromit" claymation shorts, will
produce its first feature-length
work, centering on Rocky and
Ginger, two chickens trying to
escape a farm. The script is
based on an original story by
Aardman heads Nick Park and
Peter Lord. (DrearhWorks)
"8 MILLIMETER" Nicolas Cage
("Face/Off") is set to star as a
private detective hired by a
woman to find out who's behind
a snuff film she discovered
in her dead husband's safe. He's
aided in his investigation by an
underground film insider
played by Mark Wahlberg
("Boogie Nights"). "Seven's"
Andrew Kev i n Wa I ker wrote the
script, and "A Time To Kill's"
Joel Schumacher helms. (Columbia)
"RUSHMORE" This comedy will
star Bill Murray ("The Man Who
Knew Too Little") as a self-made
millionairewho mentors an odd
15-year-old boy who spends his
time heading every school club
while neglecting his classes and
even romantic pursuits. When
he does fall in love, it's with one
of his teachers ("The Postman's"
Olivia Williams). This poses
more than the usual problems of
such a crush, as Murray's character
is also infatuated with the
instructor.
The comedy is
scripted by the "Bottle Rocket"
duo Wes Anderson and Owen
Wilson, and will be directed by
Anderson. (Buena Vista)
"PUSHING TIN" John Cusack
("Grosse Pointe Blank") will
play a veteran air traffic controller
challenged by a newcomer
in this comedy. The two become
obsessed in their battle to
outdo each other. Mike Newell
("Donnie Brasco") directs; Glen
and Les Charles (TV's "Cheers")
script. (Fox)
"STIGMA" David Arquette
("Scream 2"), Jared Leto
("Switchback"), Reese Witherspoon
("Freeway") and Christopher
Walken ("Suicide Kings")
will star in this thriller about a
young man who's imprisoned
for a murder he may or may not
have committed. When he's released,
he's manipulated into a
murderous revenge scheme.
(Distribution is to be set)
utive ("Goodbye Lover's" Ellen
DeGeneres) persuades him to
agree to be filmed 24 hours a
day, every day, for a cable
show. Jenna Elfman ("Grosse
Pointe Blank") will play Ed's
girlfriend. The film reteams director
Ron Howard with scripters
Lowell Ganz and Babaloo
Mandel, who previously
worked together on "Parenthood,"
"Gung Ho," "Splash"
and "Night Shift." (Universal)
"MICKEY BLUE-EYES" This romantic
comedy, to be helmed
by "Kids in the Hall: Brain
Candy's" Kelly Makin, is about
a Manhattan art dealer ("Nine
Months'" Hugh Grant) whose
fiancee reveals her father (James
Caan) is in the mob. (Warner)
"FORCE MAJEURE" Based on
the 1990 French film of the
same name, this drama will star
Vince Vaughn ("The Lost
World"), Joaquin Phoenix ("Inventing
the Abbotts") and David
Conrad (TV's "Relativity") as
three friends travelling abroad,
two of whom escape Malaysia
after being arrested on drug
charges. The friend who remains
imprisoned is threatened with
the death sentence unless the
others return to share the blame.
Anne Heche ("Volcano") will
play the lawyer who must convince
the two to save their
friend. JadaPinkett ("Scream 2")
also stars. Joseph Ruben ("Money
Train") directs. (Polygram)
"THE GREEN MILE" Tom
Hanks is in talks to portray a
mentally impaired man in jail
for murdering two children in
this drama that depicts the
convict's relationship with the
guards on Death Row. Frank
Darabont directs and adapts
Stephen King's novella, as he
did with "The Shawshank Redemption,"
which was based on
King's story "Rita Hayworth and
the Shawshank Redemption."
(Distribution is to be set)
VINCE VAUGHN
In the "Majeure" League
"S.L.C. PUNK" Matthew Lillard
("Scream") will play a rebellious
teen in this humorous look at a
punk wave that took place in
predominantly-Mormon Salt
Lake City in 1985. (Distribution
is to be set)
"BLAST FROM THE PAST"
"George of the Jungle's" Brendan
Fraser has been cast as a man
who has spent his whole life in
a bomb shelter due to his fear of
nuclear war. When he finally
leaves the shelter, he finds society
radically changed. Hugh
Wilson ("The First Wives Club")
directs. (New Line)
"FOOL ON THE HILL" Based
on the British TV show "Taking
Over the Asylum," this comedy
is about an aluminum siding
salesman ("Liar Liar's" Jim Carrey)
who dreams of being a
radio personality. When he discovers
a disused radio station in
an insane asylum, he commandeers
it and begins broadcasting
from it. Will Davies ('Twins")
scripts. (MGM)
"ED TV" Matthew McConaughey
("Contact") will play a video
store employee named Ed
whose life is changed for better
and for worse when a TV exec-
ET CETERA: Kathryn Bigelow
("Strange Days") has signed on
to helm New Line's "Custer
Marching to Valhalla," which is
looking for a new lead, as Brad
Pitt has dropped out...MGM's
"Marciano," a biopic of boxing
champion Rocky Marciano,
will star "Swingers'" )on
Favreau as the famed fighter
...Chevy Chase ("Vegas Vacation")
will return as the titular
undercover reporter and master
of disguises in Universal's
"Fletch 3," the third installment
of the comic "Fletch" franchise.
Kevin Smith ("Chasing Amy") is
scripting and may also direct.
6 BoxutncE