FIRST LOOK: The News in Brief, August 5, 2002

REMEMBERING NORMA JEAN: Monday marked the 40th anniversary of the death of Marilyn Monroe. Monroe died August 5, 1962, at age 36 due to an overdose of sleeping pills.

NIGHTMARE ON SEQUEL STREET: New Line Cinema officially greenlighting Freddy vs. Jason, bringing together the Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th horror franchises, Variety reports. Brad Renfro has signed to star in the film alongside Freddy Krueger himself, Robert Englund.

SHAKEDOWN STREET: Thousands of Deadheads gathering in Alpine Valley, Wisconsin, this weekend to attend Terrapin Station--a Grateful Dead Family Reunion, the first official major reunion of the beloved jam band since lead singer Jerry Garcia died in 1995. The surviving members, calling themselves the Other Ones, are planning a 15-show tour in November.

THE TIMES THEY HAVE A CHANGED: Bob Dylan making his return to the Newport Folk Festival Saturday, playing an acoustic guitar and wearing a white cowboy hat. The last time he played the festival was in July 1965, when he shocked the folk-friendly audience by "plugging in."

THAT'S A LOT OF HAY: Spider-Man star Tobey Maguire scoring a $12 million payday to star in Seabiscuit, playing the jockey who rode the legendary Depression-era racehorse. Variety reports that Gary Ross will direct the Universal release, set for a winter 2003 debut.

WINNING SMOOCH: Maguire and Kirsten Dunst scoring the award for best "lip lock" for their kiss in Spider-Man at the fourth annual Teen Choice Awards Sunday. Britney Spears, Usher and Ja Rule also scored awards.

TOO MUCH ON THE PLATE: David E. Kelley stepping down as executive producer and head writer of his Fox high school drama Boston Public in order to focus on his other shows, ABC's The Practice and Fox's new girls club, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

AILING: Legendary Los Angeles Lakers broadcaster Chick Hearn, who is credited with coining such terms as "airball," "slam dunk" and "finger roll," in a coma and in "grave" condition at a Los Angeles-area hospital after undergoing two surgeries. The 85-year-old Hearn fell in his home Friday night and suffered bleeding on his brain.

RECOVERING: Veteran sportscaster Pat Summerall hospitalized for treatment of internal bleeding this week, but he is recovering and is expected to be released soon, says a Fox spokesman.

MINING MATERIAL: The Walt Disney Company paying $150,000 each for the TV and book rights to the nine Pennsylvania coal miners who were trapped underground for more than three days. The deal includes a movie for Disney's ABC network, and a book to be published by Hyperion.

CHIPPING IN: Country singer Travis Tritt donating $25,000 to the group of volunteer firefighters who helped rescue the trapped coal miners.

BIG-SCREEN IDOL: American Idol creator Simon Fuller telling the Los Angeles Times that he wants to produce a musical starring the hit show's two finalists. The film could be released around May or June of next year.

THE RUNNERS: Ben Affleck and Matt Damon's Live Planet production company signing a two-year deal with Disney to develop more shows and features.

ACTION! Live Planet officially announcing its second season of the Project Greenlight filmmaking contest. The contest begins September 19 and will pick two winners--one director and one writer--to team up on a film.

IF YOU CAN'T BEAT 'EM... ABC signing a production deal with the studio division of HBO, according to Variety. The seven-figure deal gives ABC the first shot at programming developed by HBO Independent Productions.

THAT'S A SPICY MEATBALL! HBO entering into a licensing agreement to market pasta, salad dressing, marinara sauce, frozen pizza and other food under The Sopranos moniker, the New York Times reports.

SCRUBBING IN: Actor Don Cheadle (Traffic) set to guest star on NBC's ER next season playing a medical student. The four-episode arc will likely air during November sweeps.

KUDOS! Susan Sarandon receiving the 2,201st star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Monday. Longtime companion Tim Robbins was on hand for the unveiling, as were Ryan Phillippe and Kieran Culkin.

FIRE IN THE KITCHEN: A stockholder of Martha Stewart's Omnipedia empire suing the domestic diva, claiming she breached her duties to her investors by becoming entangled in the ImClone Systems insider-trading scandal. The suit is the first against Stewart for alleged damage to her company.

COOKIN'! Nearly two dozen restaurants around the United States celebrating culinary grand dame Julia Child's upcoming 90th birthday on August 15 by raising money for her favorite culinary causes.

BLAKE UPDATE: Actor Robert Blake, whose been in jail on charges he killed his wife since his arrest on April 18, filing a request with the California Supreme Court Friday to give him a bail hearing.

DON'T CALL IT A COMEBACK: The stop-action animated classic TV series Davey and Goliath, which ran on Sunday mornings in the 1960s, returning to the small screen, the Associated Press reports. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is planning to produce 26 new episodes of the show.

CODA: Renowned country music songwriter Joe Allison, who penned tunes for the likes of Elvis Presley, Bing Crosby, and Patsy Cline, died Friday in Nashville from lung disease. He was 77.

MOURNED: Mexican actor Roberto Cobo, best known for his role in Luis Bunuel's classic 1950 movie Los Olvidados, died on Friday of a heart attack. He was 72.