Coming Attractions?

By DAVID ELLIS/

Producers are the idea mongers of Hollywood. Operating behind the scenes, they pitch the concepts to studios, assemble the talent and hammer out the contracts. But in their quest for the sure thing, they often come up with strange ideas and fractured formulas. A look at some of the odder concepts working their way toward the screen:

An American James Bond (studio: Paramount; producers: Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer) Who could be better at overdoing a cinematic tradition than the producers of Beverly Hills Cop I and II ? This pricey vehicle may have trouble getting to the screen for under $75 million.

I Married a Witch (Columbia; Michael Grais and Mark Victor) The writers of Poltergeist I and II want to capture the spirit yet again. But this one sounds like a feature-length Bewitched rehash. And probably not as funny.

Michael Jackson Meets Batman (Warner Bros.; Anton Furst) This proposal from the production designer of Batman has a quirky logic to it, teaming music's baddest icon with pop culture's most marketable superhero. If the movie bombs, maybe the sound track could offset the losses.

Fresh Prince Goes into the Army (Warner Bros.) The studio has yet to release New Jack City, a troubled rap-crack epic. With Fresh Prince (Will Smith) getting lackluster ratings on NBC, why gamble millions more on another rap film?

Honey, I Blew Up the Baby (Disney) Studio boss Jeffrey Katzenberg is eager to repeat the success of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. In one of the script concepts being considered, a child is Xeroxed to huge size. But copies usually fade, and star Rick Moranis will demand a huge salary.

With reporting by DANIEL S. LEVY