It’s Going to Be Crowded on the Big Screen in August

There won’t be any dog days this August--at least not in movie theaters.

In contrast to the relatively slow-paced first half of the summer, between now and Labor Day a torrent of movies arrives every weekend. In getting out of the way of “Star Wars” and “Austin Powers,” which were booked solid for periods of four to 12 weeks in certain locations, the latter half of the season will be especially crowded with close to 30 national releases due over the next eight weeks.

“We’re in cannibal territory,” says DreamWorks marketing chief Terry Press of the crushing onslaught of films. Even with the megaplex explosion around the country, only the strongest films will survive. But interestingly, no one is really sure what they’ll be.

“The fun part of the rest of the summer is trying to guess the surprise hits,” says Tom Sherak, senior executive at 20th Century Fox. “So far there haven’t been any big surprises.”

Most of the hits of the early part of the summer were either proven titles or star vehicles. Of the films being released over the next month and a half many have question marks beside them. Even “Eyes Wide Shut,” the final film from legendary director Stanley Kubrick starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, is not a sure-fire mega-grosser given its adult-themed sexual subject matter and Kubrick’s idiosyncratic style--not exactly summer popcorn fare.

But the same was said of “Saving Private Ryan,” which debuted in mid-July last year and went on to gross more than $200 million. The second half of the summer often produces a sleeper or two like last year’s bad-taste comedy “There’s Something About Mary.”

This year the anticipation is high for:

* The latest raunchy teen comedy “American Pie,” which opens today.

* Family fare like “Muppets From Space,” which opens next week, and the animated “Iron Giant,” which opens in August.

* A low-budget and a big-budget scary movie--”The Blair Witch Project,” opening next week, and “The Haunting,” opening later this month.

* Two romantic comedies. The reunion of Julia Roberts and Richard Gere in “Runaway Bride” debuts at the end of the month and a remake of “The Thomas Crown Affair” starring Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo arrives in August.

* A hip cartoon action/comedy “Mystery Men,” opening later this month, about some decidedly unheroic superheroes.

* A man-eating crocodile movie (“Lake Placid,” opening next week) and a man-eating shark movie (“Deep Blue Sea,” later this month).

And speaking of sharks there’ll be two comedies about Hollywood--Albert Brooks’ “The Muse” and “Bowfinger” starring Steve Martin and Eddie Murphy, both in August.

In addition to “American Pie,” teens will be fed a Richard Nixon comedy (no, that’s not a misprint), “Dick”; a KISS (the rock group) comedy, “Detroit Rock City”; and the black comedy “Drop Dead Gorgeous.”

But one sign of how truly crowded the summer has become is that there will be major releases throughout the month of August, the latter half of which has traditionally been a dumping ground for films not deemed strong enough to go up against the better summer product.

“There’s no such thing as a bad opening date anymore,” says WB distribution head Dan Fellman. The studio, which largely sat out the first half of the summer is going out with five films in July and August.

Among the late-season offering will be “Dudley Do Right” (starring “The Mummy’s” Brendan Fraser) and Miramax’s launch of Kevin Williamson’s directorial debut, “Teaching Mrs. Tingle.” “It’s the most backloaded summer ever,” says Mark Gill, West Coast president of Miramax, which in the past used August to launch its films away from the heat of the summer competition. “There’s not a lot of wiggle room,” admits Universal’s Mark Shmuger. “But having a good summer date for a hip film like ‘Mystery Men’ gives us a chance to play those films well into September.”

Whereas the reportedly very brutal Brad Pitt film “The Fight Club” has now dropped back to fall, Disney seized the opportunity to jump into the summer fray with the Bruce Willis thriller “The Sixth Sense”--opening in August--earlier than anticipated in hope of enticing the adult audience that remains after the kids have returned to school starting in mid-August, according to Disney’s marketing head Chris Pula.

“But there will be carnage,” Gill warns. “It’s got to happen to somebody.”