A Smile Like Yours
Sabrina lovers Greg Kinnear and Lauren Holly reunite as a San Francisco couple battling infertility. But don't expect a hard-hitting look into the world of sperm donation. While most clinics feature only ''a few magazines and a VCR, ours is deluxe'' says Rysher Entertainment CEO Keith Samples, who temporarily hung up his suit to direct the film. ''It's very subconsciously oval-shaped, and at the end of the room is a huge, 60-inch television set. We weren't making a documentary.'' (Aug. 15)
In the Company of Men
Some Sundance audiences raved, and others nearly choked on this disturbing drama about two mid-level corporate types (Aaron Eckhart and Matt Malloy) who conspire to woo — and then dump — a hearing-impaired woman for the sole purpose of getting back at every female who's ever hurt them. ''If a woman made this, she'd be run out of town as a man hater,'' says director Neil LaBute. ''But it's really about turning the whole male-rage thing on its ear.'' (Aug. 8)
Mortal Kombat Annihilation
1995's techno-fueled martial arts-a-go-go Mortal Kombat raked in $122 million worldwide, and the $30 million follow-up brings the franchise's brawlers to such exotic locales as Jordan and Thailand, where they square off against a butt-kicking posse of otherworldly supervillains. Cinematographer-turned-director John Leonetti's goal for MKA: ''We want everyone, kids and parents, to be exhausted when they walk out.'' (Aug. 1)
Steel
Shaquille O'Neal, the platinum rapper, pitchman, and gazillionaire hoops star, attempts to rebound from his last big-screen air ball, Kazaam. In this superhero action-adventure (inspired by the DC comic), O'Neal plays an army metallurgist who dons a suit of armor to battle a sinister Tinseltown sleazoid (Judd Nelson). Says director Kenneth Johnson: ''Steel's no Batman.... Actually his Batcave is an old junkyard.'' (Aug. 8)
Free Willy 3: The Rescue
Same whale. Same kid. A few new splashes. Jesse (Jason James Richter), now 17, is spending the summer on a research boat and has taken on the role of teacher to a young friend (Vincent Berry) as they attempt to save Willy and his endangered pod from harpooners. ''This one's about passing things on,'' says Richter. ''It's a little darker, and to me it brings everything to a close.'' (Aug. 15)
Sunday
''Our intimate relations are incredibly fragile,'' says director Jonathan Nossiter, whose film won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, ''largely because these benign fantasies we create about each other often last for years.'' Nossiter runs with that idea in this sleepy romantic mystery about two lost souls who meet in Queens and begin inventing scenarios — based on little more than body language — about each other's lives. (Aug. 22)
Kull the Conqueror
In an Arnold Schwarzenegger-like career move, Kevin Sorbo, TV's Hercules, leaps to the big screen in a role from the author of Conan the Barbarian. A warrior-turned-king, Kull searches for a legendary weapon and beats the stuffing out of a slew of mythical bad guys. Sorbo spent weeks in weapons training for Kull's battle scenes. ''We shot fight scenes anywhere from two to five days long,'' he says. ''They covered every possible angle. I was waiting for the anal cam.'' Considering the film's kid-targeted appeal, chances are he's still waiting. (Aug. 29)
