FILM / The box-office contenders

ACCIDENTAL HERO, THE Apr Dustin Hoffman rescues air-crash victims; Andy Garcia is the handsome publicity seeker who takes the credit. With Geena Davis; directed by Stephen Frears.

AGE OF INNOCENCE, THE Spring / Summer An atypical project for Martin Scorsese: an adaptation of Edith Wharton's novel set in fashionable New York Society in the 1870s. With Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer and Winona Ryder.

ALADDIN Autumn Disney's new animated feature is said to top Beauty and the Beast.

BAD LIEUTENANT 19 Feb Abel Ferrara's film about the moral and physical decline of a New York cop (Harvey Keitel).

BELTENBROS 22 Apr Sexy Spanish thriller with Terence Stamp, Patsy Kensit.

BEST OF BRITISH ANIMATION 2 May Compilation of new shorts from The British Film Institute.

BODY OF EVIDENCE Apr Erotic thriller with Madonna as a woman accused of murdering her lover who becomes romantically involved with her lawyer (Willem Dafoe)

BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA 29 Jan Francis Ford Coppola's sumptuous vampire epic with Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder, Anthony Hopkins and Keanu Reeves.

CANDYMAN 19 Mar Suspense in 'the shadowy region between reality and fantasy'. Directed by Bernard Rose (Paperhouse; Chicago Joe and the Showgirl).

CLIFFHANGER July Sylvester Stallone in the Alps.

CLOSE TO EDEN June A tough New York woman detective (Melanie Griffith) goes undercover in a Hasidic Jewish community. Directed by Sidney Lumet.

CONSENTING ADULTS 5 Mar A yuppie wife-swap ends in murder. With Kevin Kline, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio; directed by Alan J Pakula.

CRUSH 19 Mar Dark New Zealand thriller about a wild young woman who wreaks havoc in the life of a friend.

DAMAGE 5 Feb Louis Malle's film about a cabinet minister (Jeremy Irons) whose affair with a younger woman (Juliette Binoche) proves his undoing.

DARK HALF, THE Spring / Summer Stephen King's story about a novelist who tries to suppress his 'dark half' - a reanimated dead twin.

DEEP COVER 22 Jan An undercover cop acquires a taste for a life of crime. Starring Jeff Goldblum and Larry Fishburne (the father in Boyz N the Hood); directed by Bill Duke (A Rage in Harlem).

DENNIS THE MENACE TBA New comedy from John (Home Alone) Hughes based on the comic strip.

THE DISTINGUISHED GENTLEMAN Mar Conman Eddie Murphy blags his way into the American Congress.

END OF THE GOLDEN WEATHER, THE 5 Feb New Zealand film about the summer of a 12-year-old boy.

FALLING DOWN 5 Mar Michael Douglas is a desk-bound cop who finds himself on the trail of a serial killer.

FOLKS 5 Feb Tom Selleck tries to bump off his aged parents for the insurance money, in a comedy directed by Ted (Weekend at Bernie's) Kotcheff.

FOREVER YOUNG 26 Mar A man, disappointed in love, agrees to be frozen for 50 years in a scientific experiment. With Mel Gibson.

GOOD SON, THE TBA Superbrat Macaulay Culkin extends his acting range (]) as an infant psycho.

GROUNDHOG DAY Spring A comic fairy-tale starring Bill Murray as a cynical TV weatherman who is put under a spell.

HEART IN WINTER, A 23 Apr Triangular romance with Daniel Auteuil, Emmanuelle Beart, Andre Dussollier.

HEXED Spring Comedy about a lonely hotel clerk meets the woman of his dreams, only to discover that she's a homicidal maniac.

HOFFA 19 Mar Jack Nicholson as the notorious Teamsters' Union boss Jimmy Hoffa. Directed by and co-starring Danny De Vito.

HONEY I BLEW UP THE KID 5 Feb Sequel to Honey I Shrunk the Kids.

HONEYMOON IN VEGAS 26 Feb Nicolas Cage is forced to hire out his wife for the weekend in order to pay back a gambling debt.

I'LL DO ANYTHING Spring Musical comedy with Nick Nolte, Albert Brooks, Julie Kavner and Tracey Ullman. Written and directed by James L Brooks.

INDOCHINE 26 March French epic love story with Catherine Deneuve as a plantation-owner in 1930s Indo-China.

INNOCENT BLOOD TBA John Landis's vampire film for the 1990s.

I WAS ON MARS 13 April Comedy about a Polish girl's adventures in New York.

JAMON JAMON 4 June Wild farce set in a Spanish village.

JURASSIC PARK July Steven Spielberg's summer blockbuster about genetic engineers who create a dinosaur game park, only to find that the dinosaurs take over.

KNIFE IN THE WATER Mar Revival of Roman Polanski's classic early thriller.

LAST ACTION HERO Spring Fantasy adventure about a teenage movie fan who steps out of the real world and on to the screen with his hero (Arnold Schwarzenegger).

LAST DAYS OF CHEZ NOUS, THE 19 Feb Australian family drama from Gillian Armstrong, the director of My Brilliant Career.

LEAP OF FAITH 9 Apr Steve Martin as a fake born-again Christian who cons his 'disciples' out of money. Debra Winger is his sidekick.

LEOLO 7 May A surreal tale of a Montreal childhood which was much liked in competition at Cannes last year.

LEON THE PIG FARMER 26 Feb Low- budget British comedy about a Jew who discovers his ancestors were pig-farmers.

LIVING END, THE 12 Feb Low-budget film about two gay men who, upon discovering they are HIV-positive, go on a crime spree.

LOADED WEAPON Aug Spoof of guess- what, with Emilio Estevez.

LORENZO'S OIL 26 Feb Nick Nolte and Susan Sarandon (nominated for a Golden Globe) seek a miracle cure for their terminally ill son. Directed by George Miller, ex-Mad Max and Witches of Eastwick.

LOST IN YONKERS Spring Film version of Neil Simon's award-winning play (currently in the West End) about two brothers forced to move in with their grandmother.

LOVE FIELD Spring Three people unexpectedly find themselves on a journey on the day that JFK is assassinated. Michelle Pfeiffer stars.

MAD DOG AND GLORY May A detective saves a gangster's life. In return he is 'given' a barmaid with whom he falls in love. With Robert De Niro, Bill Murray, Uma Thurman.

MALCOLM X 5 Mar Spike Lee's much- debated biopic of the black revolutionary Malcolm X. With Denzel Washington.

MANHATTAN MURDER MYSTERY Spring New film from Woody Allen. Also starring Diane Keaton.

MAP OF THE HUMAN HEART 4 June Film version of the successful stage play about an epic romance. With Anne Parillaud, Jason Scott Lee, Patrick Bergin and Jeanne Moreau; directed by Vincent Ward (Vigil; The Navigator).

MEAN STREETS 19 Feb Re-release of Martin Scorsese's volcanic early film.

MIDNIGHT STING 29 Jan Lou Gossett Jnr and James Woods in a story about scams in the boxing world.

MR JONES Spring A doctor falls in love with a charismatic but troubled patient. With Richard Gere, Anne Bancroft.

MR SATURDAY NIGHT 23 April Billy Crystal as an ageing comic who gets a second chance.

NIGHT AND THE CITY 22 Jan Robert De Niro as a seedy lawyer in Irwin Winkler's remake of Jules Dassin's Fifties thriller. With Jessica Lang.

NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, THE TBA Tim Burton's new project, a dark fantasy using stop-frame animation.

NOWHERE TO RUN Summer An ageing secret service agent pursues a renegade CIA assassin who has sworn to kill the President. With Clint Eastwood and John Malkovich.

ONE FALSE MOVE 9 Apr Carl Franklin's highly acclaimed first film is a dark thriller set in the LA underworld.

ORLANDO 12 March Sally Potter's much lauded version of Virginia Woolf's classic novel. With Tilda Swinton.

PASSENGER 57 29 Jan Action thriller about a planeload of people threatened by a escaped hijacker.

PICKLE, THE Summer A famous movie director, who has had a string of flops, awaits the opening of his new film . . . about a flying pickle. With Danny Aiello, Dyan Cannon and Shelley Winters; Paul Mazursky directs.

PUBLIC EYE, THE 5 Feb Joe Pesci as a Forties paparazzo loosely based on the legendary Weegee. With Barbara Hershey.

QUINCE TREE SUN, THE 2 Apr Set in the autumn of 1990, Victor Erice's documentary observes the painting of a quince tree by an accomplished artist (Antonio Lopez) striving to capture the quality of light and texture.

RED ROCK WEST 23 Apr Thriller with Dennis Hopper, Nicolas Cage.

REMAINS OF THE DAY TBA The Merchant-Ivory team follow up Howards End with an adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro's Booker-winning novel about a perfect English butler who devotes 30 years of his life to his master. With Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson and James Fox.

RISING SUN Sept An LA cop is threatened by Japanese mobsters. With Sean Connery, Wesley Snipes.

RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT, A 19 Feb Drama about . . . fly-fishing. Directed by Robert Redford.

ROBOCOP 3 Spring Robert Burke stars in the third of this series about a half-human, half-robot policeman.

SCHOOL TIES TBA A lone Jewish boy at a smart prep school runs into prejudice.

SCENT OF A WOMAN 12 Mar Romantic thriller with Al Pacino, Chris O'Donnell.

SCHTONK] 22 Jan German comedy about the forged Hitler diaries.

SEVILLANAS 9 July Carlos Saura's spectacular celebration of flamenco featuring Spain's top singers and dancers.

SHADOWS AND FOG 12 Feb This film by Woody Allen pre-dates Husbands and Wives but was temporarily shelved in the fall-out from the Scandal. It is a black and white pseudo-Expressionist film set in the 1920s, about a strangler who strikes when the circus comes to town.

SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE Spring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan in a romantic tale about a woman who hears a father and son on a radio show and is so intrigued that she writes to the father.

SO I MARRIED AN AXE MURDERER Summer Another comedy about the perfect woman turning out to be a serial killer, with Basic Instinct's Sharon Stone.

SPLITTING HEIRS 2 Apr Eric Idle as a man who discovers that someone else has inherited his fortune. With Rick Moranis, John Cleese, Catherine Zeta-Jones.

STAY TUNED 12 Feb Comedy about a jaded suburban couple trying to put the life back into their marriage.

STORY OF QIU JU, THE April The acclaimed Chinese director Zhang Yimou follows up Raise the Red Lantern with this comic, quasi-documentary story, filmed with hidden cameras, of a peasant woman's search for justice.

STRIKING DISTANCE TBA Bruce Willis plays a Pittsburgh river patrol cop convinced that a newly active serial killer is the same gunman who murdered his father two years ago.

SUPER MARIO BROTHERS Summer The film of the video game, with Bob Hoskins as the plucky, mustachioed Brooklyn plumber .

SWEET EMMA DEAR BOBE 22 Jan Two women struggle to survive in post- Communist Hungary. Directed by Istvan (Mephisto) Szabo.

TANGO 16 July Follow-up to The Hairdresser's Husband: a black comedy by Patrice Leconte.

THIS BOY'S LIFE Spring An adaptation of Tobias Wolff's autobiographical novel set in Washington in the 1950s.

THREE OF HEARTS July Romantic comedy with William Baldwin.

TOKYO STORY 22 Oct A revival of the great Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu's classic film about the disappointments awaiting an ageing couple who visit their grown-up son and daughter.

TOYS 5 Mar Robin Williams fights an attempt to turn his toy factory into a munitions works. Barry Levinson directs.

TRESPASS (sic) 19 Mar Ice-T and Ice Cube as two crimelords in Walter Hill's thriller.

UNDER SIEGE 26 Feb Steven Seagal's latest action thriller, set on a battleship.

USED PEOPLE Mar A widow receives a marriage proposal at her husband's funeral. With Shirley Maclaine, Marcello Mastroianni, Jessica Tandy, Kathy Bates; directed by Britain's Beeban Kidron (Oranges are Not the Only Fruit).

WAYNE'S WORLD 2 TBA Party on, dudes.

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