Boxoffice-September.1997

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HOLLYWOOD
REPORT
MIKE MYERS
"Me" Generation
HUGH GRANT
Always Well-'Groomed"
CHRISTINA RICCI
Attracted To "Opposite"
"JUST LIKE ME" An egomaniacal
womanizer fantasizes about
meeting a lady just like himself—and
his wish comes true.
Mike Myers ("Austin Powers: International
Man of Mystery")
will play a dual role as male and
female versions of the same person.
(New Line)
"ARKANSAS" Brad Pitt ("The
Devil's Own") will star in this
turn-of-the-century drama
about a cold-hearted sharecropper
who imports 25 orphans to
work his land. Billy Bob Thornton
("Sling Blade") is in talks to
direct. (DreamWorks)
"THE RELUCTANT GROOM"
Hugh Grant, who became famous
for playing a reluctant
groom in his breakout hit "Four
Weddings and a Funeral," will
play another hesitant hubby in
this romantic comedy. Grant
will play a man who is wary of
commitment, yet he marries a
woman who happens to feel the
same way. Later, they discover
their marriage was not legitimate,
and must decide whether
they should stay together or
break up. (Universal)
"OWD BOB" Colm Meaney
("Con Air") and James Cromwell
("Star Trek: First Contact")
will star in this drama about a
young American boy who goes
to live with his British grandfather
after his parents are killed.
Rodney Gibbons ("The Neighbor")
directs. (Distribution is to
be set)
"EYE OF THE BEHOLDER"
Ewan McGregor ("Trainspotting")
will play a private eye
tailing a woman who turns out
to be a serial killer in this black
comedy-thriller, to be directed
by "The Adventures of Priscilla,
Queen of the Desert's" Stephan
Elliott. (Distribution is to be set)
"HOLY MAN" Eddie
Murphy
("The Nutty Professor") will star
for director Stephen Herek
("101 Dalmatians") in this comedy
about a greedy program director
of a home shopping TV
show who tries to boost sales by
putting a guru on the air. (Buena
Vista)
"THE PATRIOT" Steven Seagal
continues to bring environmental
messages to moviegoers
while kicking bad guy ass, as
seen in "On Deadly Ground"
and the upcoming "Fire Down
Below." This time, he must save
millions from a biochemical terrorism
threat instigated by a fanatical
militia group. (Distribution
is to be set)
"THE THIN RED LINE" Director
Terrence Malick ("Badlands")
has assembled an all-star cast
including Woody Harrelson
("The People vs. Larry Flynt"),
Sean Penn ("She's So Lovely"),
John Travolta ("Face/Off"), Nick
Nolte ("Mother Night"), George
Clooney ("Batman & Robin"),
John Cusack ("Grosse Pointe
Blank"), Bill Pullman ("Lost
Highway") and Ben Chaplin
("The Truth About Cats and
Dogs") for this drama, which is
based on James Jones' autobiographical
novel about his experiences
in the battle of
Guadalcanal in 1942. Adrien
Brody ("The Last Time 1 Committed
Suicide") will portray
Corporal Fife, the character
based on Jones. (Fox)
"THE LEGEND OF THE PIANIST
ON THE OCEAN" Tim Roth
("Hoodlum") will star for director
Giuseppe Tornatore in this story
about a gifted pianist's career
aboard a cruise ship. Legendary
composer Ennio Morricone
("The Good, the Bad, and the
Ugly") will write the musical
score. (Distribution is to be set)
"THE ICE QUEEN" Sydney Pollack
("Sabrina") will direct this
drama, which will star Michelle
Pfeiffer ("Up Close and Personal")
as a drug enforcement
agent-slash-distaff James Bond.
(Columbia)
"A COOL DRY PLACE"
"Swingers'" Vince Vaughn has
signed to star in this drama,
about a lawyer whose wife
("Con Air's" Monica Potter)
leaves him and their young son.
He moves with his son to Kansas,
where he meets a new love
interest (Joey Lauren Adams of
"Chasing Amy"). Trouble arises
when the mother shows up one
day to reclaim the son. (Fox)
"SNAKE EYES" "Mission:
Impossible's" director Brian De
Palma and scripter David Koepp
will reteam in this film about a
corrupt city detective who becomes
a hero when he discovers
the man responsible for assassinating
the Secretary of Defense.
Nicolas Cage ("Face/Off") is attached
to star, and Tim Robbins
("Nothing to Lose") is in talks to
sign on. (Paramount)
"SCREAM AGAIN" Though her
character was killed off in the first
"Scream," Drew Barrymore will
be making a cameo in its sequel.
Neve Campbell, Courteney
Cox, David Arquette, Liev
Schreiber and Jamie Kennedy
will reprise their roles, and Jerry
O'Connell ("Jerry Maguire"),
Laurie Metcalf ("Dear God"),
Jada Pinkett ("Set It Off") and
Sarah Michelle Cellar (TV's
"Buffy the Vampire Slayer") will
also star. Director Wes Craven
and scripter Kevin Williamson
will also return. (Miramax)
"MY GIANT" Billy
Crystal
("Fathers' Day") will play an unscrupulous
agent who tries to
exploit a sweet but naive basketball
player (Washington Bullets
center Gheorghe Muresan) in
this comedy. Kathleen Quinlan
("Breakdown") will play the
agent's estranged wife. (Distribution
is to be set)
"SYLVIA" The off-Broadway
comedy hit about a dog who
causes jealousy in a marriage is
being brought to the bigscreen
with director Lawrence Kasdan
("French Kiss") at the helm. Steve
Martin and Diane Keaton, who
played husband and wife in the
"Father of the Bride" movies, will
again play spouses. The husband
sees the dog as an understanding
companion, while the wife views
the canine as competition. Her
stance is more understandable
given the fact that the role of the
dog was portrayed onstage by
Sarah Jessica Parker. The film incarnation
of the pulchritudinous
pooch has not yet been
cast. Martin will also script the
adaptation. (Paramount)
"THE OPPOSITE OF SEX" A girl
("That Darn Cat's" Christina
Ricci) runs away to see her gay
brother, but complications arise
when she gets involved with his
boyfriend. Lisa Kudrow ("Romy
and Michele's High School Reunion"),
Martin Donovan ("The
Portrait of a Lady"), Johnny
Galecki ("Suicide Kings") and
Lyie Lovett ("Ready to Wear")
also star. Don Roos, who wrote
"Boys on the Side," scripts and
makes his directorial debut.
(Distribution is to be set)
ET CETERA: Christopher Lloyd
will star as the titu lar extraterrestrial
in Buena Vista's "My Favorite
Martian." Jeff Daniels
will co-star as the reporter who
takes the martian into his home,
pretending the alien is his uncle
..."Lanai-Loa," a supernatural
ghost story that will be the first
release from Francis Ford
Coppola's and Wayne Wang's
production company. Chrome
Dragon, will shoot in China and
will star Angus MacFadyen
("Braveheart") as a cop who is
drawn intoa web of murder.. .Cas-
[jer Van Dien, Rod Steiger, Craig
Ferguson and Natasha Wagner
will star in "Revenant," a thriller
about hip vampires living In L.A.