Movie folk see 1994 as even a better showing than record breaking 1993.

Despite no "Jurassic Park"-type blockbuster looming on the celluloid horizon, many in the entertainment business are confident that 1994 can top 1993's strong box office performance.

Bullish studio chiefs have greased the production skids, increasing production by at least 5 percent this year. Back in 1990 the major studios were marketing 20 films a year but now most are looking to release around 30, and industry leaders Warner Bros. Inc. and Walt Disney Co. will come in with 40 in 1994.

The increased production is expected to allow the industry to beat 1993's performance, that was expected to hit $5.2 billion breaking the industry's 1989 record of $5.03 billion in late December. Final 1993 box-office revenues were not available at press time.

The optimism stems from 1993's banner year, when "Jurassic Park" set many records including worldwide tickets sales.

"This business weathered the recession rather well and it should improve as the economy does," said Producer Al Ruddy ("The Godfather"), who will have four films come out in 1994. "I would expect at least a 5 percent increase at the box office next year (1994). I think everyone in the business is optimistic and if you believe in it, success becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Everyone is geared up to be aggressive."

Another reason for the heightened production is the coming fiber optic highway which is expected to bring into homes 500 channels of cable television.

That era is fast approaching and everyone in Hollywood wants a well-stocked library when the technology is ready to be taken to the consumer in the next three years. That technology will not be a revenue stream for the studios in 1994, however.

Box office prognosticators say it's possible to have back-to-back big years. "We had two great years in 1989 and 1990 and one would hope 1994 would be even better than 1993," said Art Murphy, the box office chartmeister and analyst for The Hollywood Reporter. "There have been periods of successive good years, then there is a fall. The box office behaves a lot like the economy -- there can be a slope up and then a short drop. It's like a sawtooth."

Murphy cautioned that the business remains product driven and, if Hollywood doesn't churn out films that people want to see, they will stay home or do something else.

Although 1993 was strong, the holiday season was not. The box office slump this past November and first three weeks of December was attributable to films that failed to spark the public's curiosity. Sequels fell especially flat.

Some executives say because of the sluggish holiday season, there will be little momentum going into 1994, and this will make it difficult to have an increase in the first quarter of 1994 compared with the first quarter of 1993.

1993: Best at the Box Office

Jurassic Park          $337.8 million
Aladdin                $217.0 million
The Fugitive           $179.2 million
Home Alone 2           $172.7 million
The Firm               $158.3 million

Source: Hollywood Reporter

The big holiday hits usually dominate the first-quarter results of the following year. "Mrs. Doubtfire" is lone $100 million hit that is carrying over into the new year.

However, theater owners say a strong spring-summer schedule will keep people coming back to the multiplex.

There is hope that the MGM lion will once again roar over Hollywood. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., in its comeback bid to regain its major studio status, will try to get 20 films released in 1994 compared to half that many each of the last few years. Theater owners say a film pairing Ted Danson with Macaulay Caulkin called "Getting Even With Dad" that debuts next June is MGM's best shot at a hit in a long time.

With all the films in production, no one in the industry foresees another "Jurassic Park," Universal Pictures 1993 box office champ. The Steve Spielberg dinosaur film has rolled up over $340 million domestically and over $525 million outside the U.S. and Canada. The film has done more business internationally than any other film in history. Industry observers say that film was an "anomaly" that happens once in a decade.

The early consensus big hit for summer 1994 is a Disney animation film called "The Lion King," which debuts on June 17. Trailers were shown this Christmas and theater executives were ecstatic.

"That was some of the best footage of music and animation I have ever seen," said Tim Warner, president of National Association of Theatre Owners' California branch. "It may not be the 'Jurassic Park' of 1994 but it will be at least the 'Aladdin' of 1994."

Disney slumped in 1993 without a major $100 million hit but exhibitors say Disney's 1994 slate is improved. Disney plans to launch three films in January 1994, including a comedy with Kevin Bacon called "The Air Up There" and a Tim Burton production called "Cabin Boy."

At the end of June, Disney plans to release "I Love Trouble," a comedy that pairs Julia Roberts and Nick Nolte. Danny De Vito starring in "Renaissance Man" is also part of Disney's summer lineup.

Richard Cook, president of Buena Vista Distribution Co., predicts that Disney has a chance of reaching $1 billion in box office revenues in 1994, which would be an industry milestone for an individual studio.

Warner Bros. won the box office market share race in 1993 and is expected to be at or near the top again in 1994. Steven Seagal in "On Deadly Ground" will open on Feb. 18 and another shoot 'em up Western, "Maverick," starring Mel Gibson, will be Warner's ballyhooed summer release.

The studio is also releasing a sequel to "Major League" and a film with Tim Robbins called "The Hudsucker Proxy" in March. Tom Cruise in "Interview with a Vampire" and Sylvester Stallone in "The Specialist" are also part of the Warner 1994 arsenal.

Arnold Schwartzenegger and Jack Nicholson will also be back on the big screen in 1994. Nicholson stars in "Wolf" for Columbia Pictures in March while Arnold will try to make a comeback with Twentieth Century Fox's "True Lies" that debuts on Memorial Day weekend. His last outing, "Last Action Hero," fell short of expectations last summer.

Many in the business won't be surprised if there is a major acquisition or two. Paramount Pictures will have a new owner in 1994 and it will be either Viacom Inc. or the QVC Network Inc. Those companies are involved in an auction for Paramount Communications Inc. The auction's outcome will be determined early this year.

John Davis, the producer of "The Firm" who will have several films out in 1994 including "Water World" for Universal Pictures, predicted, "I expect one of the large cable companies will end up allied with one of the (phone companies), and I think you will see another studio or two change hands."

Tele-Communications Inc., the largest cable television company in the industry, is said to be interested in making a major studio acquisition.