1994 Box Office Report: Gump & Gumper

Trying to ratchet up its yearly production, the studio is still scrambling to fill its 1995 schedule. Tent Poles: Die Hard With a Vengeance and The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie promise to deliver plenty of explosions. Big Risk: Producer James Cameron and director Kathryn Bigelow's futuristic cyber-thriller Strange Days. Sleepers: Will Hugh Grant's romantic comedy Nine Months turn out to be One Wedding and a Baby?

MGM/UA

With a few more hits like StarGate, the studio's long-overdue comeback may finally happen. Tent Pole: It's been six years since the last Bond adventure, but Pierce Brosnan has been drafted to revive the franchise with Goldeneye, due to be released next winter. Big Risk: Can Geena Davis command the kind of audience needed to keep the $75 million Cutthroat Island from getting lost at sea? Sleeper: March's Tank Girl, with Lori Petty as the brawling-punkette title character, hopes to build on the comic book's cult following.

NEW LINE

Banking on Jim Carrey transformed the company into a genuine player — now it just has to maintain the momentum. Tent Pole: The big-budget serial-killer thriller Seven, starring Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman. Big Risk: The year's most unlikely romantic-comedy trio — Johnny Depp, Faye Dunaway, and Marlon Brando — in the whimsical Don Juan DeMarco. Sleeper: Fine Line Features' An Awfully Big Adventure, which reunites Hugh Grant with Four Weddings director Mike Newell.

MIRAMAX

The unstoppable Weinstein brothers can't stop pulling rabbits out of their hat — even if the battle-the-ratings-board trick is getting a little stale. Tent Poles: With four hot directors — Allison Anders, Alexandre Rockwell, Robert Rodriguez, and Quentin Tarantino — as well as stars like Madonna and Bruce Willis, Four Rooms is a natural candidate for publicity overkill. Big Risks: Sean Penn's The Crossing Guard and the relatively pricey period comedy-drama Restoration were both postponed from '94, raising suspicions. Sleeper: A hit at Cannes last year and a real crowd-pleaser, Muriel's Wedding, an Aussie comedy about a fat girl, could bring home the bacon.

SAVOY

A make-or-break year looms for the fledgling studio, which went hitless in 1994. Tent Pole: The action-caper comedy Steal Big, Steal Little, starring Andy Garcia, has the benefit of Fugitive director Andrew Davis at the helm. Big Risk: Since The Shadow faded from view, Alec Baldwin needs the $20 million crime drama Heaven's Prisoners, directed by Phil Joanou, to heat up his appeal. Sleeper: Circle of Friends, a nice little Irish picture due this spring, starring soon-to-be-Batman's-Robin Chris O'Donnell.