A look inside Hollywood and the movies. : THE BUZZ : Those Who Show ‘em, Like to Say They Know ‘em: Time Will Tell

The people who run the nation’s theaters like to think they can spot a big movie with the best of Hollywood’s moguls, and “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” from director Francis Ford Coppola, and “Lethal Weapon 3” with Mel Gibson and Danny Glover looked like winners to an audience of theater exhibitors last week at their annual trade show convention at Bally’s Casino Resort in Las Vegas.

Most of Hollywood’s major studios unveiled product reels of upcoming movies at NATO/ShoWest convention, where scenes from Columbia Pictures late ’92 release of “Dracula” drew lots of strong comments and a surge of applause for the rich-looking period-piece tale. There were also hoots and hollers of approval for a 10-minute preview of “Lethal Weapon 3,” the action-movie sequel that is on Warner Bros.’ schedule for a Memorial Day weekend opening.

“They saw money on the screen with ‘Weapon,’ ” said one onlooker.

Theater manager Terry Sholan, of Edwards Cinemas’ Mira Mesa 7 in San Diego predicted that the release of “Dracula” will be “huge. When I saw that, I could tell we’d be busy next Thanksgiving,” she said.

Among others, Sholan responded very strongly to scenes from “Stephen King’s Sleepwalkers,” a suspense thriller in April.

Another film sequence that drew resounding applause was a five-minute clip from Walt Disney Studios’ next animated movie musical, “Aladdin,” scheduled for release late in the year.

The unfinished clip was a mixture of sketches and finished color animation, showing a genie--with the wacky voice of Robin Williams--emerging from a magic lamp.

The consensus among viewers seemed to be that any time you can get a combination of animation and quality songs, there’s another “The Little Mermaid” or “Beauty and the Beast’ on the horizon.

Buzz around the convention meetings also focused on such summer star vehicles as “Patriot Games” with Harrison Ford, Anne Archer and Patrick Bergin, and “Far and Away” with Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman.

Director Spike Lee introduced a clip from his upcoming “Malcolm X” to what one viewer described as “mild to dispassionate reaction,” while the same audience “saw money on the screen” as Michael Keaton showed off clips of a familiar universe: “Batman Returns,” coming to a theater near you this summer.