Forward to the Future

Just when you were looking forward to the day after Christmas, you’re probably not wondering about next Christmas. But here’s a look at what the studios may be delivering in a year.

(Well, OK, this is tentative. There are a lot of ifs/ands/buts involved. We’re basing our lineup on talks with exhibitors, studio sources and production folk.)

“Back to the Future II”--Cute Michael J. Fox returns. So does Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson and director Robert Zemeckis. This was talked about originally for summer release, but, since it’s yet to go into production, some sources peg it for the holidays. “It has everything you’d want a hot Christmas picture to have,” said one exhibitor. (From Universal)

“Blaze”--All about Louisiana Gov. Earl Long’s torrid affair with voluptuous stripper Blaze Starr. Ron Shelton (“Bull Durham”) writes/directs. Paul Newman is the Gov; Blaze is yet to be cast. (From, of all people, Disney’s Touchstone arm.)

“Burgerville”--The “Airplane!” Zuckers produce the saga of “the stupidest town in America,” with director/cast to be announced. (20th Century Fox)

“Fat Man and Little Boy”--About the birth of the Atomic Age. With Paul Newman as Col. Leslie Groves, the man who selects physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer (Dwight Schultz) to head the Manhattan Project. Roland Joffe (“Killing Fields”) directs. (Paramount)

“Glory”--Matthew Broderick stars as a white leader of the first black regiment in the Civil War. Ed Zwick (“About Last Night”) directs. Freddie Fields produces. (Tri-Star)

“I Love You to Death”--Lawrence Kasdan again directs Kevin Kline (“Big Chill,” “Silverado”)--and a yet-to-be-cast femme lead in a bizarre tale based on a bizarre real-life incident: A woman is so tormented by her philandering husband that she attempts to murder him--several times. Later, after she’s served a jail sentence, the couple begin to fall in love all over again! (Tri-Star)

“Letters”--Director Martin Ritt reteams with writers Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank Jr. (they did “Norma Rae” and “Hud”). Jane Fonda’s a widowed factory worker who offers to teach illiterate co-worker Robert De Niro to read. A relationship follows. (MGM)

“The Little Mermaid”--Adapted from the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, this is the 28th animated film from the folks at Disney for the wee ones. Set to open around Thanksgiving. (Disney)

“Valmont”--Milos Foreman (“Amadeus”) directs. Another version of the classic French novel of seduction “Les Liaisons Dangereuses.” This one, cast younger than the current “Dangerous Liaisons,” stars Colin Firth and Meg Tilly as French aristocrats caught up in games of love and revenge. (Orion)

“War of the Roses”--Danny DeVito directs Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner and himself in a dark comedy about a marriage that goes from bad to divorce. When the couple won’t vacate their shared home, it becomes an emotional--and physical--battlefield. (Fox)

“Untitled Mark Twain Film”--All about a 20th-Century inventor who’s transported from 1988 to the Middle Ages--and King Arthur’s Court. Sound sort of familiar? Larry Brezner (“Throw Mamma From the Train”) produces. (Orion)