A look inside Hollywood and the movies. : J-E-L-L-O : We Swear: The <i> Absolute Last</i> Summer Movie Schedule Story (Until Next Week)

. . . When we last left our intrepid studio executives about six weeks ago, they had nearly completed their plans for this summer’s movie release schedules. The operative word here is “nearly.”

Since then, there’s been a lot of wiggling and jiggling. Schedules have been fine-tuned, with hopes of selling the most tickets by avoiding competition, attracting the most publicity and, of course, keeping one’s rivals guessing.

Playing hide-and-seek with the release dates of summer movies is nothing new in the industry. But everyone is buzzing about how this year’s date changes are unusually dizzying. For instance, John Krier, president of Exhibitor Relations Co.--on whom many of the studios, media and theater owners depend to put together an accurate schedule--is using up paper at an alarming rate as his staff tries to keep up with the changes. Krier laments, “It’s outdated as soon as it’s back from the printers. We’ve even had to junk some schedules altogether.”

One of the biggest question marks remains the Julia Roberts melodrama, “Dying Young,” which some insiders, including Premiere magazine, have dubbed the film of the summer. As of last week, 20th Century Fox still wasn’t sure whether the movie would come out as scheduled in early June, or much later--possibly autumn, when the thinking is that more people want to see serious films. There is even talk of a title change.

In contrast, some movies are being shifted to earlier dates, like Tri-Star Pictures’ “Hudson Hawk” (Bruce Willis) and Paramount Pictures’ “Soapdish” (Sally Field). That’s a sharp contrast to last summer’s situation when the suits were tearing their hair out because expensive movies like “Days of Thunder” and “Die Hard 2” weren’t ready in time for summer’s start.

Other films, like Columbia’s “City Slickers” (Billy Crystal), have been moved three times--from June 21, then June 12 and now June 7--in order to avoid opening against competition that is perceived as strong, and to take advantage of a solo opening weekend, when attention can be focused on it alone.

Another example is Universal Pictures’ “Mobsters” (Christian Slater, Patrick Dempsey). Sources say that after screening it twice, studio executives were so excited with the organized-crime period drama that they wanted to move it up to June 28 from July 19. But that would mean going head-to-head with Paramount’s much-ballyhooed “Naked Gun 2 1/2” opening at the end of June. So it stayed on July 19.

“It’s like they’re seeking some elusive equation where no two comedies, big-budget pictures, adult or kids films open on the same weekend,” said one executive at a theater chain, who, like others in the industry, are anxious to see the final release dates of the summer’s more than 55 films.

Of the total, only four films have been the 800-pound gorillas of the summer schedule--they’ve been scheduled for a while and have stayed put:

* Universal’s “Backdraft” (Kurt Russell, William Baldwin, Robert De Niro), May 24.

* Warner Bros.’ “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves” (Kevin Costner), June 14.

* Disney Studios’ comic-based adventure, “The Rocketeer,” June 21.

* Tri-Star’s Arnold Schwarzenegger entry, “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” July 3.

Whatever the final schedules, the summer’s traditional opening on Memorial Day weekend promises to be competitive. Friday, May 24, will see head-to-head competition between”Backdraft,” “Hudson Hawk,” Fox’s “Only the Lonely” (John Candy) and MGM/Pathe’s “Thelma & Louise” (Susan Sarandon, Geena Davis).

Meanwhile, the Hollywood shuffle continues. Twentieth Century Fox last week pushed the release date of “Only the Lonely” up a week to May 24. One insider says Fox doesn’t want it to get caught in a “post-Memorial weekend letdown.”

Disney pushed forward its Bill Murray-Richard Dreyfuss comedy “What About Bob?” from May 24 to May 17. Sources say the studio saw how well Universal’s “Bird on a Wire” did last year by getting a jump on the Memorial Day rush, and decided to try it.

On the other hand, there’s Disney’s production of E.L. Doctorow’s “Billy Bathgate” (Dustin Hoffman), which was scheduled to open on June 28. Last week, the studio abruptly de- scheduled the film.

Paramount’s “Regarding Henry” (Harrison Ford) was originally set for release June 5, and then June 21, it’s now coming out July 12--which just happens to be the same weekend that Paramount’s sleeper blockbuster “Ghost” was released last year. Paramount executives are hoping lightning strikes twice.

So far, no major studio is releasing a movie against “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves”--apparently out of fear of the title’s name recognition and the film’s popular, Oscar-winning star. “That’s what we hear,” chortled Robert G. Friedman, Warners’ president of theatrical advertising and publicity, “and we’re happy to accept it.”