Where the Action Isn’t

Not everything this summer will be ultra-high-profile/action-oriented movies.

Studio marketeers are also at work on campaigns for comedies, a smattering of dramas targeted at the adult audience and family films.

Comedy-wise, some of the genre’s biggest names will reportedly help promote their products by chatting with the press. Including: Bill Murray, star/co-director of Warner’s “Quick Change”; Steve Martin, for Warner’s “My Blue Heaven”; controversial Andrew Dice Clay, for Fox’s action-comedy, “The Adventures of Ford Fairlane.” (The film, in turn, is expected to fuel a second Dice Clay summer film--”The Andrew Dice Clay Concert Movie,” also for Fox.)

Plus Matthew Broderick and the co-stars of Columbia’s quirky comedy “The Freshman.” (As for the film’s other star, Marlon Brando, a studio source quipped, “Yeah, we’re gonna send him on a 30-city tour.”)

With the late summer release of “Taking Care of Business,” starring Charles Grodin and Jim Belushi, Touchstone hopes to emulate the late summer successes of the company’s “Turner and Hooch” ($70.4 million in 1989) and 1987’s “Stakeout” ($65.6 million). With “Betsy’s Wedding,” Touchstone will counter-program. Essentially an updating of “Father of the Bride,” the film will be released in late June--when there are few films with appeal for female viewers. (The movie has already had considerable visibility; its trailer is attached to the hit “Pretty Woman.”) Likewise, Paramount is counting on the romantic appeal of the late July release “Ghost,” starring Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg.

On the serious side: Universal will again release a Spike Lee film, “Mo’ Better Blues,” at summer’s end. (Last year’s entry was “Do the Right Thing.”) As Si Kornblit, Universal’s executive vice president, worldwide marketing, notes: “Spike himself has become a celebrity.” Warner’s “Presumed Innocent”--one of the summer’s most anticipated “adult” titles--which will get a PR boost from star Harrison Ford. The long-awaited “Chinatown” sequel will reportedly get a push from director/star Jack Nicholson (who kept silent during the “Batman” media blitz). To promote “Memphis Belle,” about a B-17 bomber crew during World War II, Warner plans to let the press meet the ensemble cast at a junket in Memphis--where the real Memphis Belle is on display. The studio is promoting the film via World War II organizations, air shows and aviation groups. “But,” stresses a spokeswoman, “we don’t want this film to be perceived as nostalgic. It’s more like ‘Young Guns’ in the air.”

The film with the summer’s strangest title, Touchstone’s thriller, “Arachnophobia” (definition: fear of spiders), has been generating “buzz” within the industry and bragging, among Disney staffers, of a potential surprise hit.

Family-wise: Proof of the swelling ranks of family audiences, and pint-size moviegoers, came with “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids,” and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”

Summer titles attempting to tap that market will include a trio of animated features, the reissue of a live-action adventure tale “starring” a kitten and a puppy, and a comedy starring “America’s favorite dad.”

Originally released last summer, the Japanese-made “The Adventures of Milo and Otis” (Milo is the kitten) charmed critics but made little money. This year Columbia will put the “thumbs-up” reviews to use in an all-new campaign.

In the case of “Jetsons: The Movie,” Universal is hoping for cross-over appeal, since many of today’s moms and dads grew up watching the series. There’s even a teen-age angle, since teen singer Tiffany provides the voice of the teen-age Judy Jetson.

Disney’s new animated feature, “Ducktales--The Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp,” should have no problem luring small fry. For the uninitiated, “Ducktales”--about the exploits of kid ducks Huey, Duey and Louie, as chaperoned by the grown-up Scrooge--is one of TV’s hottest, most heavily merchandised kids’ shows. Also from Disney: a reissue of “The Jungle Book” (1967). Both films’ release will be accompanied by “the making of” syndicated TV shows.

To promote the PG-rated, “Ghost Dad,” Universal is touting star Bill Cosby. Boasts Kornblit: “We have America’s favorite dad.”

Indeed, among the film’s Father’s Day promotional tie-ins, you’ll find The Coz on the cover of The Sharper Image’s Father’s Day catalogue. And you can read all about his views on fatherhood in the June issue of Parenting magazine.

Plus, The Coz and his “Ghost Dad” movie family will put in a special appearance at the June 7 grand opening of Universal Studios in Orlando. “Like any good, healthy American family, they’ll go on the rides,” says Kornblit.