Where the Action Is and Isn’t

Where have you gone Arnold Schwarzenegger? Call home, Sylvester Stallone! Anyone seen Bruce Willis or Mel Gibson? And, while we’re at it, whatever happened to Jerry Bruckheimer, who produced such action hits as “The Rock,” “Con Air” and “Armageddon?”

The summer of ’99 beckons, and the men whose very names have come to symbolize Hollywood action films are nowhere to be found.

Instead, we have Tom Cruise starring in a movie about sex--with his wife, no less.

Instead, we have Kevin Kline--this is not a misprint--fighting side by side with Will Smith.

Instead, we have Brendan Fraser--not Harrison Ford--blazing across the silver screen in an adventure yarn about treasure-seeking explorers who unwittingly stumble upon an ancient tomb.

The summer season even features not one but two films with that macho action star . . . Hugh Grant. And, instead of super-spy James Bond, we get super-spy . . . Austin Powers.

What’s happening? Is Hollywood adrift in “William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream”? Or has the approaching May 19 release of “Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace” in some 2,800 theaters caused such a tremor in the Force that studio executives have temporarily lost their equilibrium?

Without ruling out either proposition, it could be argued that this could be called Summer of Diversity: Episode 2.

Last summer might be remembered by action fans for “Armageddon” or “Lethal Weapon 4,” but studio officials remember it because of lower-budget movies like “There’s Something About Mary,” “Dr. Dolittle” and “Hope Floats.”

Take “Mary.” Here was a little comedy spiced with crude humor (a dog in a cast, a woman wearing unusual hair gel) and it grossed an incredible $176.5 million. Move over Arnold, Mel and Bruce--here comes Ben Stiller, Cameron Diaz and Matt Dillon!

Wait, there’s more.

If officials at 20th Century Fox were surprised at “Mary,” they were stunned by “Dr. Dolittle,” which had Eddie Murphy talking to birds and farm animals. That film grossed $144.2 million.

Wait, there’s more.

The Sandra Bullock going-home drama “Hope Floats” grossed $60.1 million.

What does all this say about the approaching summer?

“What last summer showed was that diversity does well,” said Fox production president Tom Rothman. What makes a movie into a hit, he noted, can be summed up in one word: urgency.

“The best thing to have is urgency to see a movie for all audience groups,” Rothman explained--for example, “Star Wars: Episode I.” “But the next best thing is to have urgency among groups.”

A good example of this was “Hope Floats,” he said, which was targeted at older women. “We sold over 4 million videocassettes of that film, and I’m willing to bet you there wasn’t a 14-year-old boy anywhere in the country who ever saw it,” Rothman said. “But that’s OK. They weren’t meant to.”

But this shouldn’t cause action stars like Jean-Claude Van Damme to worry too much. Studio executives say there is still room in every summer release schedule for pure action films. Indeed, Van Damme, that quintessential action figure, will be back this summer in “Universal Soldier: The Return.”

And yet, maybe it’s time to usher in a more diverse summer? Turn down the volume. Adjust the frequency. Put familiar faces in new roles.

Who knows? Maybe Cruise and Nicole Kidman will rock the screen in director Stanley Kubrick’s last film, “Eyes Wide Shut”? Maybe Kline will emerge as a new action hero in “Wild Wild West”? Maybe Fraser’s starring role in “The Mummy” will make us all forget Harrison Ford in “Raiders of the Lost Ark”--well, let’s not go too far.

Whatever happens, this much seems evident: It won’t be the Summer of Same.

With all this in mind, what can we expect from this summer’s movies?

IN A GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY: Things to discuss with your friends while sitting on the curb waiting to buy tickets to “Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace”:

* Is Lott Dod, the Trade Federation’s representative in the senate, related to Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.)?

* Is Nute Gunray, viceroy of the Trade Federation, related to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich?

* To become a Jedi master, does one train on a Stairmaster?

* Did Darth Vader, Darth Maul, Darth Sidious and Grand Moff Tarkin ever perform with KISS?

PLEASE, MR. CUSTER, I DON’T WANT TO DIE: Jim Tharp just might be the bravest man in Hollywood. The distribution chief at DreamWorks SKG is releasing a little comedy called “The Love Letter,” starring Kate Capshaw, on May 21--only two days after the debut of “Star Wars.”

“We hear that Fox is limiting the number of screens that ‘Star Wars’ is playing on, so there will be an awful lot of screens available,” Tharp says, adding with a laugh: “We’re not limiting the screens exhibitors can play ‘Love Letter’ on.”

SUMMER OF LIAM: With all the hype about “Star Wars,” it should be noted that Liam Neeson--who plays Jedi master Qui-Gon Jinn in “The Phantom Menace”--also stars this summer in another potential blockbuster called “The Haunting.” There is no truth, however, to rumors that Neeson would have gladly given up both movie roles for a chance to reprise “Darkman.”

DUMB AND DUMBER?: There are three big questions that need to be answered this summer:

1) Can Adam Sandler’s box-office success in Disney’s “The Waterboy” be repeated by Columbia Pictures in his next comedy, “Big Daddy?”

2) Can Mike Myers turn his sequel “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me” into a franchise for New Line Cinema?

3) Why have goofy comic guys replaced serious muscular guys as the summer’s hottest attractions?

PRETTY WOMAN, PRETTY MEN: Forget muscle, sweat and steel. The big screen will be filled with something else this summer: Julia Roberts’ smile.

Roberts, whose box-office success seems pegged to the glimmer of her teeth, co-stars with Hugh Grant in “Notting Hill” and “Runaway Bride” with Richard Gere, neither of whom has to worry about smiling for their fans.

AND THEY’LL ALL BE ON ‘THE TODAY SHOW’: There are no less than 15 actors playing key roles on the new Ben Stiller ensemble comedy “Mystery Men,” which is based on the Dark Horse comic about a group of superhero wannabes. This will come as a surprise in Hollywood, where it is not uncommon for 15 producers to claim they played key roles in a film.

GOING APE: Disney is releasing one movie--”Tarzan”--about a man raised by apes in the jungles of Africa and another movie--”Instinct”--about a man who lives among the mountain gorillas of Rwanda. We understand that Cheetah is furious with his agent for not getting him an audition for either film.

L.A. STORY?: Forget Los Angeles. The city of the moment is Inglewood. That’s right, Inglewood--the current home of the Lakers, Kings and horse racing at Hollywood Park. Located under the flight path into LAX, the city is the setting for “The Wood,” which stars Omar Epps, Taye Diggs and Richard T. Jones as three friends who reminisce about growing up in Inglewood during the era of ‘80s hip-hop music.

SOUND FAMILIAR?: Let’s see. It says here that “An Ideal Husband,” which stars Cate Blanchett, Minnie Driver, Rupert Everett, Julianne Moore and Jeremy Northum, is based on an Oscar Wilde play about a man who sees his career and marriage about to crumble when a seductive woman threatens to reveal a dark secret from his past. Strange. There is no mention about any lucrative book deals or interviews with Barbara Walters.

A-MUSE-ING: In “The Muse,” comedian Albert Brooks plays a celebrated screenwriter who, in typical Hollywood fashion, learns over lunch that he’s out of a job. Left with a bad case of writer’s block, he seeks the services of a real-life muse (Sharon Stone). Too bad she wasn’t available to help on “Mission: Impossible.”

‘A’ FOR AUDACITY: In Kevin Williamson’s new high school black comedy “Killing Mrs. Tingle,” three best friends, falsely accused of cheating in class, try to outsmart their history teacher, hoping they won’t have to resort to . . . well, you get the picture.

FUN VACATION LOCALES:

* THAILAND--In “Brokedown Palace,” Claire Danes and Kate Beckinsale skip off after graduation to Southeast Asia, where they get busted for drug trafficking and get sentenced to the slammer for 33 years.

* LAKE PLACID--Something’s definitely not so placid out there in the waters of a remote Maine lake, where a nature-phobic scientist, a Fish & Game warden, a sheriff and an eccentric mythology professor converge to investigate a gruesome death in “Lake Placid.”

* THE WHITE HOUSE--In “Dick,” two teens (Kirsten Dunst and Michelle Williams) take a wrong turn on the White House tour and stumble into a room filled with presidential secrets just as the Watergate crisis is unfolding around President Nixon.

SPACE JAM: If you only go to three outer space movies this summer, you might consider “Star Wars,” “The Astronaut’s Wife” and “Muppets From Space.”

If you only go to one inner space movie, you might consider “Deep Blue Sea.”

If you only go to one movie set in Rhode Island that features a three-legged dog, you might consider “Outside Providence.”

And, if you only go to one John Travolta movie, you might consider “The General’s Daughter”--or, you might wait four months and another Travolta film is sure to come along.

IN SEASON: “Summer of Sam.”

OUT OF SEASON: “Autumn Tale.”

CATCHY TITLES: “Bowfinger.” “Drop Dead Gorgeous.”

UNCATCHY TITLES: “My Life So Far.” “The 13th Warrior.”

FUN WITH TITLES: Directions to “The Castle”: Take “Arlington Road” to “Notting Hill,” turn left by “The Lovers on the Bridge” just “Outside Providence.” But be careful. If you go too far, you’ll be in “Limbo.” So, make a right turn at the first signal and head all the way to “Detroit Rock City.” If that’s too complicated, hop the subway at “South Park” and get off at “The Wood.” Now you’re “Trippin’.”

GUNFIRE, EXPLOSIONS, COACH CHASES!: In “Plunkett and Macleane,” Robert Carlyle and Jonny Lee Miller play a couple of 18th century highwaymen who infiltrate British society to gather information they can use to stage holdups of aristocrats’ coaches. Looks like a job for Turner & Hooch.

INDIE QUEENS: Two actresses who have achieved considerable success in smaller films--Lili Taylor (“I Shot Andy Warhol”) and Heather Graham (“Boogie Nights”)--are cast in two big studio movies: Taylor as a woman mysteriously drawn to a mansion in “The Haunting,” while Graham replaces Elizabeth Hurley as the babe in “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.”

TOON WARS: EPISODE I THE PHANTOM STUDIOS: Here’s the plot: The Rebel Alliance of Hollywood Studios is under attack. The Disney Empire is blasting away at them with one big animated feature film summer after summer. The Rebel Alliance knows it is powerless to destroy the Empire’s Death Star (a.k.a. Disney Feature Animation) but will try anyway. So, watch for Warner Bros. to launch “The Iron Giant” and Paramount Pictures/Warner Bros. to join forces to deliver “South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut.”

TOON WARS: EPISODE II THE PHANTOM ANIMATORS: “Inspector Gadget” and “Dudley Do-Right” are Hollywood’s latest attempts at turning TV cartoons into live-action films. Yes, new ideas really are that scarce.

CALLING DON KING: Brad Pitt, Edward Norton and Helena Bonham Carter star in “Fight Club,” a tale about a man named Tyler (Pitt) who sets up fight clubs in which young men are paired off in bloody, no-holds-barred bouts until one drops. Which is roughly how rival studio execs may be feeling after “Star Wars” opens.