A CHORUS LINE
Hollywood seems intent on turning your multiplex into Lincoln Center. Why the song and dance? "The mere fact that there has not been a dance movie that can legitimately call itself a dance movie since The Turning Point," declares Laurence Mark (As Good as It Gets), producer of this summer's Center Stage. "Backstage in the dance world is an amazing place to be." Director Nicholas Hytner guides a cast composed mainly of real dancers, and leaves the choreography to Susan Stroman (Broadway's Contact) and Christopher Wheeldon of the New York City Ballet.... An ocean away, Keri Russell plays an upper-crust Belfast lass with a talent for Latin dance in Mad About Mambo (June).... And who among us isn't eager to see Ryan Phillippe stretch his legs as a Russian ballet dancer in the Cold War comedy Company Man (summer)?... Director Thomas Carter promises that Save the Last Dance will be "the most exciting hip-hop dance movie ever made." Choreographed by Gap-ad wizard Fatima Robinson, the interracial high school romance stars Julia Stiles as a naive ballerina from the suburbs who falls for Sean Patrick Thomas' urban club kid (summer).... And Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman navigate the 19th-century club scene in Moulin Rouge.
HORSE POWER
Hollywood is in an equine state of mind. Besides the buzzworthy All the Pretty Horses (see page 22), there's the horse-centered epic Hoofbeats.... Horses even play a key role in the erotic Euro-Japanese parable 8 1/2 Women (May).... Where there are horses, there are cowboys, and Phillippe trades in his tights for bandoliers, joining Taye Diggs and Juliette Lewis in learning The Way of the Gun (summer).... And Dylan McDermott, James Van Der Beek, and Usher slap on the chaps for Texas Rangers (April).
JABFEST!
Boxing movies are suddenly making the rounds, and Carlos Avila thinks he knows why. "There's just something very primal and visceral about the sport," says the director of Price of Glory, which stars Jimmy Smits as an aging boxer trying to realize his frustrated dreams through his sons. "Even if you're not a fight fan, you can't help getting caught up in the spectacle." (March 31).... If turmoil makes a sport ripe for cinematic treatment, then it's no surprise to see professional wrestling honored with both a documentary, Beyond the Mat, from producer Brian Grazer (March), and a comedy, Ready to Rumble, starring David Arquette. Why was he willing to 1-800-grapple? "I went to WrestleMania when I was younger and saw Hulk Hogan, so I had a built-in fascination." (April 14).... Another movie with a potential Nike tie-in: The Replacements (fall), a treatment of the 1987 football strike, with Keanu Reeves as a gridiron scab. Whoa.
SECOND COMINGS
Science has proven sequels and Satan movies belong in roughly the same category. We begin with the more odious of the two: There are at least 10 sequels slated for 2000, which is reason enough to continue stocking your bunker. Scream 3 closes out the trilogy of self-aware scare-fests with Wes Craven at the helm, but no Kevin Williamson-penned screenplay (February).... The second Urban Legend installment is the compellingly titled Untitled Urban Legend Sequel.... The sequel to The Blair Witch Project (did they "find" more footage?) will once again attempt to corner the market in low-budget chills (fall).... For a refreshing change, we turn to Satan, who should have his SAG card by now. Brendan Fraser is Bedazzled by a demonic dame in the Harold Ramis-directed comedy (Aug. 11).... All is not brimstone: Several of 2000's religion-themed movies are actually redemptive--kinda. Check out the setup for the Edward Norton-directed Keeping the Faith: a rabbi (Ben Stiller), a priest (Norton), and a corporate executive (Jenna Elfman) walk into a bar. The punchline? A lighthearted love triangle (spring).
