Hollywood Is Hoping For A Big Summer Movie

Each year, it seems the movies' biggest annual season fires off the starting block earlier and earlier. Superhero action flick "Spider-Man" sets the pace for summer 2002 when it debuts on Friday, followed by "Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones" two weeks later on May 16.

"The Sum of All Fears," with Ben Affleck as novelist Tom Clancy's CIA agent-hero Jack Ryan, and "Enough" with Jennifer Lopez take two top spots for thrillers. Comedian Robin Williams turns to murder in suspenseful "Insomnia," bachelor Hugh Grant mulls fatherhood in comedy "About a Boy," and families get animated adventure "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron."

And that's just in May before official summer even starts.

"There's so much that looks interesting and because there's something for everybody, it should be one of the biggest summers ever," said Tom Sherak, partner at Revolution Studios.

The last time the summer box office boiled up this much in May was 1999 when "Star Wars" Director George Lucas offered the fourth in the six-part series of space adventures. "Episode I -- The Phantom Menace" set the tone for a record summer with smash hits "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me," starring Mike Myes, and "Big Daddy" with Adam Sandler.

Guess what? Those two are back as Hollywood studios debut one or two major motion pictures every week into August.

FOR ACTION

The most avid summer audiences are comprised chiefly of teens and college kids out of school. And the movies aimed at them -- the ones people will hear the most about -- are big-budget action adventures and comedies.

Of the action flicks, "Spider-Man" has the brains of Tobey Maguire behind the brawn of Spider-Man. He battles his nemesis, Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe), and wins the heart of girl next door, Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst). To the action and special effects are added Spider-Man's complicated relationship with his friends and enemies. It's the latter element that has Hollywood filled with positive buzz over the movie.

For "Attack of the Clones," Lucas has aged young Anakin Skywalker, and audiences meet him (this time, Skywalker is played by Hayden Christensen) as a young man grappling with the path his life will take. Fans know he eventually winds up as the evil Darth Vader, but how does it happen?

The biggest hurdle for Lucas will be overcoming lackluster "Phantom Menace" reviews from fans and critics that might have audiences wary of sitting through another space epic.

While those two are undoubtedly the biggest action movies of the early summer, they aren't the only ones. On June 21, Tom Cruise and Director Steven Spielberg team up for science fiction thriller "Minority Report," in which the "Mission Impossible" star plays a futuristic cop who is fingered for a vicious murder -- before it's even committed.

Matt Damon has a suspenseful thriller, "The Bourne Identity" on June 14, the same weekend that action Director John Woo ushers out his World War II epic, "Windtalkers."

Summer wouldn't be summer without Jerry Bruckheimer ("Pearl Harbor"), and this year his "Bad Company" teams comedian Chris Rock with Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins as two federal agents looking for terrorists holding a nuclear bomb (June 7).

On July 3 "Men in Black II" returns with Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones as the secret agents who hunt down evil aliens.

"In the last, Tommy's memory was taken away," said Director Barry Sonnenfeld. "Will has been top gun for five years, but they have to re-recruit Tommy to find out what's threatening the Earth -- because you always have to threaten Earth."

COMEDY'S TURN

In late July, Mike Myers returns as the movies' favorite international man of mystery, "Austin Powers in Goldmember," to save the world from his long-time nemesis, Dr. Evil. The third adventure in the movies that spoof popular James Bond flicks has reunited Dr. Evil with Mini-Me and Fat Bastard (July 26).

"Many of the story lines and themes introduced in the first and second movies are resolved," promises Toby Emmerich, who heads production at the film's backer, New Line Cinema.

Before "Goldmember," comes Adam Sandler in "Mr. Deeds," (June 28), based on 1936 classic "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town" about a small-town man who sets out for the big city.

One of the summer's most anticipated films is "Scooby-Doo," (June 14) based on the classic cartoon about four ghost-hunting college kids and their super-sleuth dog, Scooby-Doo.

Director Raja Gosnell had to create a computer-animated dog for Scooby that looked like he belonged with the real-life characters. But that wasn't Gosnell's biggest dilemma.

"There is a very strong supernatural element that goes way beyond what people ever saw in the cartoon," he said. "Probably our biggest challenge was being cool enough for teens and friendly enough for kids."

FAMILY FILMS

Some of the biggest moneymakers in the past two years have been family films, and that hasn't been lost on the studios. In late May, for the Memorial Day holiday weekend, there is DreamWorks' "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron," a coming-of-age story with a wild horse, Spirit (May 24).

Disney's big summer animated movie is "Lilo & Stitch" on June 21. The directors call it a sort of un-Disney, Disney movie. Stitch is a mean and angry alien dog until he meets a Hawaiian girl who is troubled in her own, modern way.

Also in June, adventurer Steven Irwin of the hit TV show, "Animal Planet," stars in "The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course." It tells of a search for a crocodile that swallowed a top-secret satellite beacon.

Computer-animated mouse Stuart Little is back in "Stuart Little 2," (July 19) in which his new friend, a pigeon, gets lost and Stuart ventures outside his home to save her.

Finally, in August, there is "Spy Kids 2." And of course, there's lots more to choose from: thriller, "The Road to Perdition" with Tom Hanks in July, and the reunion of Julia Roberts and Steven Soderbergh ("Erin Brockovich") for "Full Frontal" in August.