Sneaks ’93 : Fall/Christmas

We already know that Columbia Pictures has Martin Scorsese’s “The Age of Innocence” all lined up for Oscar consideration. Other year-enders that look like they have Oscar intentions include Oliver Stone’s “Heaven and Earth,” Peter Weir’s “Fearless,” and James L. Brooks’ “I’ll Do Anything,” David Cronenberg’s “M. Butterfly,” Merchant Ivory’s “The Remains of the Day” and maybe Bill Forsythe’s “Being Human,” if only for the ambitious part of Robin Williams. There’ll be plenty of mind candy around as well: This is the season of “Addams Family II,” “The Beverly Hillbillies” and “Wayne’s World II.”

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The Addams Family 2. Anjelica Huston, Raul Julia, Christopher Lloyd and director Barry Sonnenfeld return for the creepy and kooky sequel to the 1991 smash. (Paramount)

The Age of Innocence. Martin Scorsese directs this adaptation of Edith Wharton’s novel of passion, duty and self-sacrifice in 19th-Century New York. Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer and Winona Ryder star. (Columbia)

The Ballad of Little Jo. After bearing a child out of wedlock, Josephine Monaghan is forced to move out to the rugged Old West where she assumes a male identity. Suzy Amis stars for writer-director Maggie Greenwald. (Fine Line)

Being Human. Robin Williams stars for writer-director Bill Forsyth (“Local Hero”) in a series of interwoven vignettes concerning a character who travels through history searching for love, self-worth and fulfillment. John Turturro also stars. (Warner Bros.)

The Beverly Hillbillies. “Wayne’s World” director Penelope Spheeris takes on another idea that originated on the tube. Erika Eleniak is Elly May and Cloris Leachman Granny. (Fox)

Bopha! Arsenio Hall produces, Morgan Freeman directs and Danny Glover stars as a South African policeman struggling to balance family and duty. Alfre Woodard plays Glover’s wife and Malcolm McDowell is the head of the Special Branch that brings down the hammer on thousands of blacks. (Paramount)

Carlito’s Way. Brian DePalma directs Al Pacino as a Puerto Rican gangster who leaves the U.S. for his native land to try to retire from crime after his release from prison. (Universal)

A Dangerous Woman. Debra Winger stars in a dramatic love triangle drawn from Mary McGarry Morris’ novel. Gabriel Byrne and Barbara Hershey are the other two participants. Stephen Gyllenhaal directs. (U.S. distribution pending/World Films handles foreign)

Deadfall. Michael Biehn, Nicolas Cage, Sarah Trigger, James Coburn, Talia Shire, Peter Fonda and Charlie Sheen star in this suspense flick about a deadly con game directed by Christopher Coppola (nephew of Francis). (Trimark)

Demolition Man. Maverick cop Sylvester Stallone and villain Wesley Snipes are cryogenically frozen and packed away for their respective crimes. Years later, Snipes is thawed out and goes on a murderous rampage. Stallone is then revived, for he’s the only guy who can stop him. Marco Brambilla directs. (Warner Bros.)

Fearless. Peter Weir cast Jeff Bridges and Isabella Rossellini in a drama focusing on an architect who survives a plane crash and the emotions that absorb him following the tragedy. His close relationship with another survivor (Rosie Perez, whose character loses a son in the disaster) helps him to adjust. John Turturro and Tom Hulce co-star. (Warner Bros.)

Flesh and Bone. Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan star in this drama about a habitual drifter who meets a fractured soul with a dark, dangerous past. “Fabulous Baker Boys”’ Steve Kloves directs; James Caan co-stars. (Paramount)

The Fugitive. Harrison Ford takes on the role of Dr. Robert Kimble, a man obsessed with tracking down his wife’s one-armed murderer. Kimble’s pursued by the diligent Lt. Gerard, who doesn’t buy his vow of innocence. Andrew Davis directs. (Warner Bros.)

Golden Gate. Matt Dillon plays an FBI agent and Joan Chen is a college professor who turns out to be the daughter of a man the agent once wronged. A love story set in the Bay Area. John Madden directs. (The Samuel Goldwyn Co.)

The Good Son. Macaulay Culkin and Elijah Wood star for “The Stepfather” director Joseph Ruben in this thriller of a young boy who goes to live with relatives following his mother’s death. Culkin plays the grieving boy’s cousin, and he doesn’t offer much comfort. (Fox)

Great Moments in Aviation. When a young Caribbean woman heads to ‘50s England to become an aviatrix, she meets the strangest group of people aboard ship. Jonathan Pryce, Vanessa Redgrave and John Hurt play some of them, Rakie Ayola plays the flyer. “Used People’s” Beeban Kidron directs. (Miramax)

Heaven and Earth. Oliver Stone adapts the dramatic and epic tale of Le Ly Hayslip, a Vietnamese woman born in 1949, who, after years of war and persecution in her homeland, comes to the U.S. to begin afresh. Tommy Lee Jones, Joan Chen, Haing S. Ngor and Hiep Thi Le head the cast. (Warner Bros.)

A Home of Our Own. Kathy Bates plays a feisty mom of six who moves them from L.A. to Idaho, determined to find a less stressful environment. “T2’s” Edward Furlong plays her eldest. Tony Bill directs. (Gramercy Pictures)

The Hour of the Pig. This black comic murder mystery stars Colin Firth as a lawyer who leaves Paris for the serenity of Abbeville, where he is sucked into the political, sexual and religious intrigue of the small town. Leslie Megahy directs and writes. (Miramax)

The Hudsucker Proxy. Joel and Ethan Coen’s (“Raising Arizona,” ’Barton Fink”) next is a satirical comedy revolving around big business. Tim Robbins is an ambitious but naive young man whose quick rise to the top is orchestrated by men who lost their scruples long ago. Paul Newman, Jennifer Jason-Leigh and Peter Gallagher co-star. (Warner Bros.)

I’ll Do Anything. In James L. Brooks’ musical-comedy, a character actor (Nick Nolte) is suddenly responsible for his pesky, unpredictable 6-year-old daughter. Albert Brooks, Julie Kavner, Joely Richardson, Tracey Ullman and Whittni Wright also star. Expect songs by Prince, Sinead O’Connor and Carole King. (Columbia)

Joey Coyle. John Cusack is a working stiff who happens upon more than $1 million in untraceable bills one day. When he decides to keep the cash, he finds out who his friends are. Ramon Menendez directs-co-writes. (Buena Vista)

King of the Hill. Steven Soderbergh directs this story of a 12-year-old who struggles to make the best of a transient hotel in 1930s St. Louis. Adapted by Soderbergh from A.E. Hotchner’s memoirs and starring Jeroen Krabbe, Lisa Eichhorn, Elizabeth McGovern and Spalding Gray. (Gramercy)

Lights Out. Matt Dickson, former hockey player-turned-LAPD homicide detective is assigned a serial killer case. Michael Madsen plays Dickson, and Lisa Bonet’s the free-lance journalist who helps him attack the case--and more. Nigel Dick directs. (PolyGram)

Love Affair. Warren Beatty will produce and star in Robert Towne’s update of the popular 1939 and 1957 Leo McCarey films. His leading lady: Annette Bening. (Warner Bros.)

M. Butterfly. David Cronenberg directs the screen adaptation of the David Henry Hwang play. Jeremy Irons and John Lone lead the way. (Warner Bros.)

The Man Without a Face. Mel Gibson makes his directing debut in this tale of a recluse who forms a special relationship with a lonely teen-age boy. (Warner Bros.)

Manhattan Murder Mystery. Woody Allen returns to pure comedy in this picture starring himself, Alan Alda, Anjelica Huston and Diane Keaton (who replaced Mia Farrow). Allen and Marshall Brickman wrote the script. (TriStar)

Meltdown. When a terrorist group seizes a nuclear power plant and initiates a meltdown, ex-commando Dolph Lundgren is the only one who can save millions. Yves Simoneau directs a screenplay co-written by John Carpenter. (Hemdale)

Mother’s Boys. Jamie Lee Curtis plays a mom who left her three sons but abruptly returns three years later--not to tend to them, but to kill her husband and his new love. Peter Gallagher and Joanne Whalley-Kilmer play the latter; Vanessa Redgrave plays Curtis’ concerned mother. Yves Simoneau directs. (Miramax)

Mr. Wonderful. A divorced man tries to marry off his ex, so his alimony payments can be used to purchase a bowling alley. Matt Dillon and Annabella Sciorra star, Anthony Minghella writes-directs and Mary-Louise Parker and William Hurt co-star. (Warner Bros.)

Mrs. Doubtfire. Chris Columbus directs this comedy of a voice-over artist (Robin Williams) whose wife divorces him. Disguised as an elderly British woman, he becomes his kids’ nanny. Based on the Anne Fine novel. (Fox)

Much Ado About Nothing. Kenneth Branagh directs Shakespeare’s tale of two intertwined love stories--one mischeviously funny, the other touchingly poignant. Branagh also stars with Michael Keaton, Denzel Washington, Keanu Reeves, Robert Sean Leonard and Emma Thompson. (The Samuel Goldwyn Co.)

Naked In New York. An ensemble piece centering on Jake, an angst-ridden playwright just out of the Ivy League and his art dealer girlfriend Joanne. First-time director Dan Algrant’s screenplay attracted Whoopi Goldberg, Kathleen Turner, Timothy Dalton, Mary-Louise Parker and Tony Curtis. (Fine Line)

The Nightmare Before Christmas. Tim Burton returns to animation in this twisted story of a “Halloween Town” ghoul who inadvertently ends up in cheerful “Christmas Town.” After kidnaping Santa Claus, our anti-hero is off on his skeleton-reindeered sleigh to distribute spiders, bats and busted toys to all the little ones. (Buena Vista)

The Nutcracker. Macaulay Culkin plays the Nutcracker Prince in a production by the New York City Ballet. “Dirty Dancing’s” Emile Ardolino directs; Peter Martins creates the staging. (Warner Bros.)

A Perfect World. Clint Eastwood directs Kevin Costner in this tale of two escaped convicts who take a young boy hostage. The nastier of the abductors (Costner’s first role as a rat) finds he truly cares for the young Jehovah’s Witness as they form a poignant, if brief, bond. Eastwood also plays a peripheral role. (Warner Bros.)

Philadelphia. Tom Hanks plays a lawyer who’s fired from the firm when it’s learned he has AIDS. Denzel Washington is the attorney Hanks retains to get his job back. Antonio Banderas plays Hank’s lover; with Mary Steenburgen and Joanne Woodward. Jonathan Demme directs. (TriStar).

Philadelphia Experiment 2: Flight of the Phoenix. When Nazi Germany wins World War II by virtue of a time-space glitch, the world is thrown into a hellish state. Brad Johnson and Courteney Cox try and patch up the situation for director Stephen Cornwell. (Trimark)

The Program. James Caan is college coach Sam Winters, a man of strict moral fiber but under increasing pressure from the university brass to win more football games. Craig Sheffer and Kristy Swanson also star for co-writer-director David S. Ward. (Buena Vista)

The Real McCoy. Kim Basinger stars in this caper flick as a cunning cat burglar who turns over a new leaf, but is blackmailed into one final heist. She gets stuck with a crook whose sex appeal is superior to his intelligence. Val Kilmer and Terence Stamp star for director Russell Mulcahy. (Universal)

The Remains of the Day. Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel is the next project of director James Ivory, producer Ismail Merchant, scenarist Ruth Prawer-Jhabvala and performers Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson. Hopkins is a decades-long butler, highly devoted to Lord Darlington (as played by James Fox). (Columbia)

Romeo Is Bleeding. Gary Oldman plays a voyeuristic cop who has his eyes full with a violent woman gangster in Lena Olin. Peter Medak directs the black comedy; Annabella Sciorra, Juliette Lewis, Roy Scheider and Peter Boyle also take part. (Gramercy)

The Saint of Fort Washington. Danny Glover and Matt Dillon are two New York City survivors who have seen better luck. Tim Hunter directs Lyle Kessler’s (“Orphans”) script. (Warner Bros.)

Schindler’s List. Steven Spielberg directs this true tale of Oskar Schindler, a man who exposed himself to harm while saving the lives of more than 1,000 Jews during the occupation of Poland. Liam Neeson stars; Steven Zaillian (“Awakenings”) adapts the Thomas Keneally book. (Universal)

Searching for Bobby Fischer. Steven Zaillian again, this time writing and directing the story of a 7-year-old chess prodigy whose parents try to let him grow up normally while allowing him to pursue his exceptional gift. Joe Mantegna, Larry Fishburne, Joan Allen, Max Pomeranc and Ben Kingsley star. (Paramount)

Short Cuts. Robert Altman’s 22-character tapestry based on nine short stories by Raymond Carver. Anne Archer, Bruce Davison and Robert Downey Jr. star alongside dozens of equally recognizable faces. (Fine Line)

Sister Act II. Whoopi Goldberg returns, but no director or further cast details available. (Buena Vista)

Six Degrees of Separation. Stockard Channing and Will “Fresh Prince” Smith star for director Fred Schepisi in John Guare’s award-winning play. Guare also adapts his tale of a young man, allegedly mugged and beaten, who talks his way into an upscale couple’s Manhattan home. (MGM)

Stakeout II. Both Richard Dreyfuss and Emilio Estevez have agreed to return to followup the 1987 hit. No director yet. (Buena Vista)

That’s Entertainment III. Bud Friedgen and Michael J. Sheridan assemble more lively footage from the MGM vaults as the studio prepares for its 70th anniversary. (MGM)

That Night. C. Thomas Howell and Juliette Lewis star in this love story set in 1961, as told through the eyes of a 10-year-old girl who becomes very concerned when her teen-age neighbor gets involved with the “wrong” boy. Craig Bolotin writes and directs. (Warner Bros.)

Untitled Harold Becker Thriller. The “Sea of Love” director works with Alec Baldwin, Nicole Kidman and Bill Pullman, in a suspenseful story set in a New England college town. Baldwin’s a brilliant surgeon, Pullman a college dean and Kidman his wife drawn into a “web of intrigue.” Peter Gallagher and George C. Scott also take the plunge. (Columbia)

Untitled Wesley Snipes. The actor plays Roemello Skuggs, the overlord of a New York City drug empire who struggles to extricate himself from a vicious, uncaring world before it engulfs him and his loving family. Leon Ichaso directs. (Fox)

Wayne’s World 2. Producer Lorne Michaels returns with Mike Myers and Dana Carvey reprising their roles as the Kings of Schwing. (Paramount)

We’re Back. The children’s book depicting dinosaurs in modern-day New York City comes to an animated life. Voices by: Walter Cronkite, John Goodman, John Malkovich, chef Julia Child and Jay Leno. (Universal)

What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. Johnny Depp’s a simple grocery stockboy in tiny Endora, Iowa, who’s having a fling with Mary Steenburgen until Juliette Lewis comes to town. Lasse Halstrom directs. (Paramount)

Wolf. The tale of a man’s slow transformation into a wolf after being bitten by one. Jack Nicholson metamorphoses while Michelle Pfeiffer cares for him. Mike Nichols directs. (Columbia)

Wrestling Ernest Hemingway. Robert Duvall and Richard Harris play very different best friends. Randa Haines directs; Shirley MacLaine and Piper Laurie co-star. (Warner Bros.)