Films now going into production: ...

Films now going into production: The Abyss (GJP). Shooting in South Carolina. James “Aliens” Cameron writes/directs a suspense/drama/adventure concerning the management of an oil rig that comes into conflict with its workers--who have been genetically altered to exist underwater! Producer Gale Anne Hurd. Stars Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and Michael Biehn. Distributor Fox. Summer release.

Blue Steel (Pressman). Shooting in NYC. Action adventure follows Jamie Lee Curtis, a rookie cop who’s forced to gun someone down. Stockbroker Ron Silver witnesses this and then goes on a killing spree of his own. Producers Edward R. Pressman, Oliver Stone and Mike Rauch. Director Kathryn Bigelow. Screenwriters Bigelow and Eric Red. Also stars Elizabeth Pena. Distributor Vestron.

Weekend at Bernie’s (Gladden). Shooting in Wilmington, N.C. “First Blood’s” Ted Kotcheff directs Andrew McCarthy and Jonathan Silverman in a noir comedy. The two portray trainees for an insurance firm who uncover a fraud and embezzlement scheme, thus endangering them while they are hindered by a cadaver they can’t quite lose. Executive producers Malcolm Harding and Robert Klane. Producer Victor Drai. Screenwriter Klane. Distributor Fox.

L.A. Bounty (L.A. Bounty). Shooting in L.A. Sybil Danning’s a full-figured bounty hunter who interrupts the kidnaping of a mayoral candidate in order to smoke out the master criminal (Wings Hauser) responsible for the abduction. Producers Danning and Michael Leighton. Director Worth Keeter. Screenwriting credit undetermined. Also stars Lenore Kasdorf and Robert Quarry.

Lord of the Flies (Castle Rock). Shooting in Jamaica. An ‘80s look at Nobel Prize winner William Golding’s novel of camaraderie, survival and prejudice. Executive producers Lewis Allen and Peter Newman. Producers Ross Milloy and David Lester. Director Harry Hook. Screenwriter Jay Presson Allen. Stars Paul Balthazar, Chris Furrh and Daniel Pipoly. Distributor Columbia.

Next of Kin (Barry & Enright/Lorimar). Shooting in Chicago and Kentucky. Patrick Swayze stars in this action-drama about a Chicago cop who must venture into the Appalachian Mountains to avenge the murder of his brother. Executive producer Larry De Waay. Producers Don Enright and Les Alexander. Director John Irvin. Screenwriters Michael Jenning and Jeb Stuart. Distributor Warner Bros.

The Punisher (New World). Shooting in Sydney, Australia. In a film based on the Marvel comics character, Dolph Lundgren’s a highly trained police officer who disappears after the murder of his wife and children only to return as the crime-shattering title character. Producer Robert Kamen. Director Mark Goldblatt. Screenwriters Kamen and Boaz Yakin. Also stars Louis Gossett Jr. and Jeroen Krabbe.

Rooftops (MJK). Shooting in New York. Robert Wise directs a modern-day urban musical drama set in New York’s lower East Side following a band of streetwise kids whose battlegrounds are the rooftops of abandoned buildings. Executive producers Taylor Hackford and Stuart Benjamin. Producer Howard Koch Jr. Screenwriter Terence Brennan. Stars Jason Gedrick, Troy Beyer, Alexis Cruz, Tisha Campbell and Allen Payne. Distributor New Visions.