A look inside Hollywood and the movies. : SNEAK PREVIEW : A Few Good Test Screenings and an Early Christmas

Encouraged by test screenings that exceeded their expectations, Columbia Pictures has moved the release date for “A Few Good Men” up a week--from Dec. 18 to Dec. 11--to attract more pre-Christmas moviegoers to the $40-million production and open it clear of other major competition.

“We were told that this movie scored higher than any other movie ever tested by the National Research Group,” says Columbia Chairman Mark Canton, alluding to the organization that conducts market tests on approximately 80% of all Hollywood feature releases. “And, since the results were almost as good in the previous two public showings, we don’t think it’s an aberration.”

The studio says that in a July 21 San Fernando Valley screening, 98% of the 400 people questioned about the film rated the film “excellent” or “very good.” Five rated it “good.” Not one card said it was ‘fair.’ Ninety percent of the audience said it would “definitely recommend” it to friends, which is double the norm.

Based on the long-running Broadway play by Aaron Sorkin, “A Few Good Men” was produced by Castle Rock Entertainment and directed by Rob Reiner, whose last two outings--”Misery” and “When Harry Met Sally . . .”--also tested in the rarefied 90% percentile. The film centers on a slick young Navy lawyer (Tom Cruise) who, aided by a resolute lieutenant commander (Demi Moore), is brought in to defend two Marines accused of murdering a colleague. Clashing with the base commandant (Jack Nicholson), the lawyer ends up challenging both the system--and himself.

“It’s true that star power doesn’t always carry a picture,” says Columbia executive vice president Sidney Ganis, “but the combination of Cruise and Nicholson--with Demi in the middle--results in a remarkable collective chemistry. From a marketing vantage point, of course, it’s an unbelievable powerhouse.”

Canton, acknowledging that names don’t necessarily guarantee box office (note, for starters, Nicholson in “Man Trouble,” Moore in “The Butcher’s Wife” and Cruise in “Days of Thunder”) says the trick is matching the performer with the proper vehicle. “ ‘A Few Good Men,’ I think, will remind people what made them stars in the first place.”

Columbia is scheduled to release two other high-budget, high-profile films during the highly competitive Christmas season--Francis Ford Coppola’s “Bram Stoker’s Dracula,” scheduled to open around Thanksgiving, and Martin Scorsese’s “The Age of Innocence,” opening Christmas Day--but the studio maintains that there’s room in the market for all of them.

“I’m not worried,” Ganis asserts. “Good movies breed more moviegoing. If people have a good time, they come back for more.”