Movies and Video Games

CARTOON heroes have provided inspiration for movies and video games, but in the latest marketing switch, film stars are making video games to coincide with movie releases.

Sylvester Stallone and Wesley Snipes, currently filming "Demolition Man," spent two days on the set acting in extra scenes staged specifically for a high-tech video game. The game, designed by Virgin Games, is scheduled to be released the same time as the Warner Bros. movie later this year.

Next month, in "Surf Ninjas," the film's lead character plays a "Surf Ninjas" video game in the movie itself. It's thought to be the first movie-based video game preceding the film's release. ("Super Mario Brothers" was a movie based on a video game.) With movie admissions flat, and the domestic box office stalled at $5 billion a year, the video-game business is vital to the entertainment industry. By the end of the century, some estimate, video-game systems will be as common in American homes as VCRs.