Estevez! Stallone! Biehn! Wallace Stone! Dempsey! Grieco?!

COMEBACK STARS OF 2007

Sylvester Stallone is leading the charge – don’t be surprised if MGM ask him for another “Rocky” sequel now – but there’s a bunch of other old guns (well, they’re not all old – but they haven’t had much success on the big screen in recent times) whose careers are about to be a good oil and grease, too. Here’s a look at some of the stars of yesteryear that’ll be making their comebacks this year (they hope).

1. Sylvester Stallone – And to think he’d been flogging his “Rocky Balboa” script for about five years before the studio finally agreed to do it. They’d be kicking themselves for not doing it earlier, eh? There’ll be no tardiness when it comes to the new “Rambo” movie, with production due to start within the next couple of months. Word is, even the struggling Biggie/Tupac movie that Sly was working on – tentatively titled “Notorious” – is also back on. Welcome back Italian Stallion.

2. Michael Biehn – He was the go-to man for action or science fiction movies in the 80s – Jim Cameron loved him; you’ll recall he was in his “The Terminator”, “Aliens”, and “The Abyss” – but hasn’t done anything decent in a few years now. Quentin Tarantino plans to change all that, with “Grind House”, a new flick that’ll put the talented actor back on the big screen (where he belongs).

3.Dee Wallace-Stone – The “E.T” and “Cujo” mum has never really been out of work, but she hasn’t done anything really decent in a while, has she? Her first theatrical release in years and years will be “Halloween”, Rob Zombie’s revamp of the classic John Carpenter slasher hit. She’ll play Laurie Strode’s mother in the film, so quite a plum role for the talented – and once, very, very in-demand – actress. It’ll be wonderful to have Dee back on Dee Big screen.

4.Eddie Murphy – After a bunch of bland comedies, Murphy accepts a supporting role in the musical “Dreamgirls” and suddenly his career is alive again – so much so that Paramount bankrolled a “Beverly Hills Cop 4” within about a week of seeing Murphy’s performance in the abovementioned pic. At the moment, Murphy has no less than four movies in active development, and let’s not forget about “Shrek the Third”, opening mid-year. Yes, Yes, Yes.

5. Emilio Estevez – : Like Stallone and “Rocky Balboa”, Emilio Estevez battled for years to get his project “Bobby” off the ground. Now, he’s having the last laugh. The former Brat Packer is indeed on his way to regaining the celebrity status he was attributed with in the Reagan-era, be that as an actor or director or both. Though he hasn’t got any other acting roles lined up yet, Estevez is said to be already prepping his next film as director. If all else fails, Touchstone would probably be keen for him to do another “Stakeout”.

6. Patrick Dempsey – He’s won over TV audiences with his recent portrayal of a studly doctor on TVs “Grey’s Anatomy” (as has another comeback kid, Chris O’Donnell) but now Dempsey’s making moves to regain his big-screen career too. The “Can’t Buy My Love” star stars opposite Amy Adams in the charming Disney film, “Enchated”, and is already lined up to feature in a second romantic comedy this year, “Made of Honor”, about a guy in love with an engaged woman tries to win her over after she asks him to be her maid of honor.

7. Andrew McCarthy – One of Emilio Estevez’s old-buddies and “St Elmo’s Fire” co-stars is also on a trek back to the leagues. The 80s icon has snagged a plum role in the highly anticipated “The Spiderwick Chronicles”, with Freddie Highmore and Mary Louis Parker, an amazing mesh of live-action and animation. The pic is based on the best-selling books by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi and centers on twin brothers Jared and Simon who, along with their sister Mallory uncover a world of fairies and other creatures It has been ten years since McCarthy had a film in cinemas – the last one was 1996’s “Mulholland Falls”.

8. Erika Eleniak – Her only widely-seen role of the past couple of years has been on TVs “Celebrity Fit Club” (if you ask me, she never needed to lose that much anyway – always looked good; especially considering she’d recently given birth) but former “Baywatch” actress Eleniak is set to make a triumphant comeback over the next couple of years. In addition to rumours that her character, Jordan Tate, has been written into a new “Under Siege” sequel, Eleniak is also developing her own TV series, as well as only accepting roles in movies that are, well, decent. Eat your heart out, Hoff.

9. Brendan Fraser & Christopher Showerman – Both ‘George’ of the Jungle’s – Showerman was the guy from the 2003 DTV sequel – are also making moves to re-invade the big and small screens. Fraser will be seen in the wildly-expensive “Journey 3-D”, as well as the films “Inkheart”, “The Air I breathe” and “Singularity”. He is also currently in talks to return for a second sequel to “The Mummy” for Universal. Sounds like the Fraser’s will be eating well this year.
Showerman, who recently toured in the stage play “Legends”, is set to star in and produce several feature films, including “Beneath the Sand and the Sky”, an action-packed western in which he’ll play the last in a long of cowboy’s. The actor – who headlines the new TV series “Gay, Straight or Taken” next week – is also rumoured to be involved in new films for Disney and Fox2000. Not that I’d know.

10. Richard Grieco – In addition to his recent guest-turn on “Veronica Mars”, Grieco is getting into the directing game – in an effort to kick start his own acting career. The former “21 Jump Street” and “Booker” heartthrob will captain “The Ghost Riders”, a Larry Bartels written pic about a small group of Outlaws who were killed and come back from Hell to terrorize a small western town called Tularos – as you do. Production is said to begin February 2007. No doubt the wrap party will be at the ‘Roxbury’, right?