Winter to Spring: A Glimpse of Films to Come

There are about 100 major and independent movies tentatively scheduled for the first four months of next year. The following list provides a glimpse of things to come, though movies to be released by Orion Pictures remain in doubt.

JANUARY The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (Hollywood Pictures). Rebecca de Mornay stars as a childless widow who gets a job as a family helper to a busy mom, with dark designs of her own. Also starring Annabella Sciorra, Ernie Hudson and Matt McCoy. Directed by Curtis Hanson.

Freejack (Warner Bros.). Emilio Estevez plays a race driver who in 1989, during a car accident at 140 m.p.h., unexpectedly gets thrown into the world of 2009, where he runs into high-tech bounty hunters led by Mick Jagger and a corporation run by Anthony Hopkins. Directed by Geoff Murphy.

Noises Off (Touchstone). An adaptation of the play about a touring group of thespians who incompetently put on a play while trying to maintain professional integrity. Starring Carol Burnett, Mark Linn-Baker, Michael Caine, Denholm Elliott, Julie Hagerty, Marilu Henner, Christopher Reeve, John Ritter and Nicolette Sheridan. Directed by Peter Bogdanovich.

Terminal Bliss (Disney). Two teen-age boys fall in love with the same girl, putting a real strain on their close friendship. Starring Luke Perry. Directed by Jordan Alan.

Hard Promises (Columbia). A young woman (Sissy Spacek) finds out that her ex-husband has been invited to her wedding. He didn’t know they were divorced and tries--in 24 hours--to win her back. Also starring William Petersen, Brian Kerwin, Mare Winningham and Jeff Perry. Directed by Martin Davidson.

Shining Through (Fox). During World War II, a secretary in the offices of the OSS persuades her boss to send her on a mission to Nazi Germany. Starring Michael Douglas, Melanie Griffith, Liam Neeson, Sir John Gielgud and Joely Richardson. Directed by David Seltzer.

FEBRUARY Medicine Man (Touchstone). Sean Connery plays a research scientist in the Amazon jungle looking for a rare bromeliad with curative powers. Lorraine Bracco plays an assistant sent by the pharmaceutical company who sponsors him. Directed by John McTiernan.

Wayne’s World (Paramount). Mike Myers and Dana Carvey re-create their “Saturday Night Live� characters in a comedy about the rock ‘n’ roll misadventures of Wayne and his sidekick Garth. Directed by Penelope Spheeris.

The Mambo Kings (Warner Bros.). Two brothers from Cuba make their way to New York City in 1953 playing lively music of the mambo. Based on the book by Oscar Hijuelos. Starring Armand Assante and Antonio Banderas. Directed by Arne Glimcher.

Shadows and Fog (Orion). Director Woody Allen’s latest, starring Mia Farrow and himself.

Article 99 (Orion). A surgical team in a veterans hospital fights bureaucracy to get patients decent care. Starring Forest Whitaker, Ray Liotta, Kiefer Sutherland, Lea Thompson and Kathy Baker. Directed by Howard Deutch.

MARCH The Lawnmower Man (New Line Cinema). Pierce Brosnan and Jeff Fahey in a story written by Stephen King about the technology called “virtual reality�--in which individuals can enter a universe created by computer.

Blame It on the Bellboy (Hollywood Pictures). Three men of wildly diverse backgrounds--a hit man, a cheating politician and a real estate scout--get their hotel reservations mixed up and are given the wrong rooms. Starring Dudley Moore, Bryan Brown, Richard Griffiths and Patsy Kensit. Directed by Mark Herman.

My Cousin Vinny (Fox). In this comedy, Joe Pesci plays a Brooklyn lawyer who is summoned to a small Southern town when two college students are framed for murder. One of the students is his cousin (Ralph Macchio), who doesn’t know that Vinny has flunked the bar more than once before finally passing. With Marisa Tomei.

Gladiator (Columbia). In a story set in the world of underground amateur boxing, a young man (James Marshall) gives up his girlfriend and college career to take on gangs and corrupt promoters. Featuring Robert Loggia, Ossie Davis and Brian Dennehy.

City of Joy (TriStar). The title refers to the most impoverished area of Calcutta, where an American doctor, an Indian couple and a British woman who runs a clinic there find purpose and fulfillment. Starring Patrick Swayze, Pauline Collins, Om Puri, Shabana Azmi and Art Malik. Directed by Roland Joffe.

APRIL Ferngully ... The Last Rain Forest (Fox). An animated ecological fantasy about rain forest inhabitants whose lives are threatened by forces of destruction.

Basic Instinct (TriStar). Writer Joe Eszterhas’ sexual murder mystery, starring Michael Douglas as a San Francisco detective. Also starring Sharon Stone. Directed by Paul Verhoeven.

Newsies (Walt Disney Pictures). The first live-action Disney musical in more than a decade is based on the New York newsboys strike in 1899 against the publishing giants Hearst and Pulitzer. Songs from Alan Menken, direction and choreography by Kenny Ortega. Starring Christian Bale, Ann-Margret and Robert Duvall.