CRUISE'S `MISSION': MAKE HIT FILM MORE THAN POSSIBLE.

Byline: Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Tom Cruise's ``Mission: Impossible,'' which debuts May 22, already is being talked up as the monster hit of the summer - but he's not planning to leave anything to chance.

He intends to actively promote its domestic release and then, as soon as his schedule clears, to hustle overseas to hype that ``Mission'' around the world.

Cruise already has poured himself into this project - his first crack at being producer as well as star of a film - as never before. Behind-the-scenes buzz has it that he exerted his muscle to the max - insisting upon what's been termed a ``parade of great writers'' to push the intricate script into prime shape, clashing with director Brian De Palma over certain sequences of the feature, getting a reshoot of the ``Impossible'' ending. He also worked for only scale up front for his acting work to keep the budget of his ``Mission,'' well, possible.

There'll be no rest for Cruise anytime soon. He'll be doing ``Mission: Impossible'' promotion in the United States around his ``Jerry Maguire'' shooting schedule. The big-screen comedy, in which he plays a sports agent, doesn't wrap until late June. In late summer, he and his wife, Nicole Kidman, will bundle up their tots and head to London, where they'll shoot the sexual obsession thriller ``Eyes Wide Shut'' for director Stanley Kubrick.

Going together: Melanie Griffith and Antonio Banderas may be hot together, but as an on-screen couple, they're leaving the public cold. ``Too Much'' - the romantic comedy that marked the beginning of their affair - has been a disaster at the box office. It opened March 15 and was pulled after the April 5 weekend, only mustering a total gross of $1,118,000! Ouch.

Like fine wine: In a business sorely afflicted with ageism, here's a turnaround: Unusual casting notices have gone out for James Cameron's planned film about the Titanic starring Kate Winslet. They're looking for players in their late 70s and up ``to play 100 years old and older'' survivors of the 1912 disaster for the contemporary scenes of the film. Potential cast members are to be ``spirited, spunky and active.'' Also noted in the notice is a desire to use ``yesterday's stars'' - so it'll be fascinating to see who might re-emerge on screen in the epic.

A special meeting: Sheryl Lee Ralph is planning a very special trip to Bangkok, Thailand, during her hiatus from UPN's ``Moesha'' sitcom. ``I've been taking care of this little girl through the Pearl S. Buck Foundation since she was 3,'' explains Ralph. The child, who is half-black and half-Asian, is ``going to turn 18 this year and I'm going to try to meet her.''

As soon as ``Moesha'' wraps for the season, Ralph will concentrate on her sixth annual ``Divas: Simply Singing'' AIDS benefit concert set for May 11 at L.A.'s Wilshire Ebell Theatre. Already lined up to perform are Oleta Adams, Jennifer Holliday, Liz Torres, Linda Hopkins, Rachelle Ferrell and if scheduling permits, Ralph's ``Moesha'' co-star Brandy. Proceeds from the show go to Project Angel Food and the Safe Place for pediatric AIDS.

Long walk: When viewers see CBS' forthcoming miniseries adaptation of Larry McMurtry's ``Dead Man's Walk,'' little will they know of the drama that occurred off-camera. Patricia Childress - the sole female co-star in a cast that includes F. Murray Abraham, David Arquette, Edward James Olmos, Keith Carradine and Harry Dean Stanton (her December-May husband in the story) - reports conditions were more than grueling. After weeks of working in rugged Texas terrain in temperatures topping 100 degrees, she finally headed back to Los Angeles and started feeling very ill on the plane. A friend took her directly from the airport to the hospital, ``and I collapsed as I was walking in. It turned out I had pneumonia.'' And, she says, she remained hospitalized for three days.

``The way the script was written, my character is the one who conjures up the demons of emotion about this whole ordeal, while the guys trek in and out of the story. So, from about page 52 to page 5,000, the script says things like `Matilda sobs,' `Matilda cries,' `Matilda breaks down.' It was wearing.''

The videoland view: Plans are in the works for a sassy, pushing-the-envelope HBO series to star Robert Hays. The underused actor of ``Airplane!'' fame would play a divorced father of two who regularly fights with his boss, revels in his hunting rifles and has a girlfriend who is decidedly unethical.

MEMO: The Celebrities Column appears Monday through Friday.