FIRST LOOK: The News in Brief, March 3, 2002

A BEAUTIFUL SCRIPT: Murder mystery Gosford Park winning best original screenplay and A Beautiful Mind snagging best adapted screenplay as both took top honors at the Writers Guild of America awards on Saturday. Writer-director Blake Edwards was also honored with the guild's lifetime achievement award.

THE GNOME GOES HOME: Jean-Pierre Jeunet's International feel-good hit Amelie winning best film and best director honors on Saturday at the Cesar Awards, France's equivalent to the Oscars. But the movie failed to dominate the ceremonies, winning just four awards despite receiving 13 nominations.

GOING HER WAY: Pop songbird Jewel kicking off her 2002 North American summer tour on June 14 in Tampa, Florida in support of her latest album This Way. The trek will continue for five weeks before wrapping up in Austin, Texas on July 21.

SEE YA: Rapper C-Murder, who was arrested in mid-January, charged Thursday with second-degree murder in the the shooting death of a 16-year-old in a club in Harvey, Louisiana. An arraignment is set for next week.

USING THE FORCE: George Lucas premiering Star Wars: Episode II?The Attack of the Clones a few days earlier on May 12 in 11 cities to raise money for children's charities. The films opens around the world on May 16.

JOYFUL YOUTH?!? Media giant News Corp. launching a Chinese-made version of NBC's hit Friends. The show, called Joyful Youth, will be among several locally produced shows when the company launches a local-language channel in China in the coming weeks.

THE FORCE IS WITH FOX: The new trailer for Star Wars: Episode II--Attack of the Clones will premiere March 10 on Fox between Malcolm in the Middle and The X-Files. The two-and-a-half-minute preview will then hit theaters March 15, accompanying the new computer-generated 'toon Ice Age.

NIGHTY-NIGHTLINE? ABC in talks with David Letterman to move his late-night show to the network, the New York Times reports. Letterman's contract with CBS expires this year, and ABC hopes to lure him away from the network and either move or cancel Nightline and Politically Incorrect.

GLITTER ALERT: After getting paid $28 million to part ways with EMI, Mariah Carey discussing potential deals with several labels, including Island Def Jam, RCA and Elektra.

BAND ON THE RUN: Paul McCartney kicking off his first North American tour in nine years April 1 in Oakland, California. Macca will play 20 shows in 19 cities, including a two-night stop in at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

NEW SENSATION: Australian rock group INXS planning a U.S. concert tour with a new singer, four years after frontman Michael Hutchence committed suicide. The band will kick off a 40-city club tour May 30 with Jon Stevens, the former singer for the Australian band Noiseworks.

BREAKING UP: Shirley Jones, the Oscar-winning actress and former matriarch of '70s TV staple The Partridge Family, filing for divorce from her husband of 25 years, comedian Marty Ingels.

SNUFFED: Bowling alley owner Peter Harkey becoming the first castaway kicked off the island on Survivor: Marquesas, which debuted on CBS Thursday night.

SURVIVING: The premiere of Survivor: Marquesas drawing a respectable 23 million viewers Thursday night, placing second behind Friends. CBS' C.S.I., meanwhile, scored a series-record 28.8 million viewers, according to preliminary numbers. NBC's premiere of Leap of Faith fared well at 8:30 p.m., holding onto 77 percent of its Friends lead-in audience.

COME AND KNOCK ON THEIR DOOR: The Fox Network developing May sweeps reunion specials for both M*A*S*H and Three's Company, even though neither show actually aired on Fox (M*A*S*H was produced by Fox, however). This year marks the 30th anniversary of M*A*S*H's debut on CBS.

REST IN PEACE: Soap opera legend Mary Stuart, known for her roles on Guiding Light and Search for Tomorrow, died Thursday from complications of a stroke at the age of 75.

BREAK STUFF: The tour manager for Limp Bizkit saying Friday that Australia's Big Day Out concert where a teen-age girl was killed was understaffed and poorly managed.

UP THE CREEK: Beginning April 24, former Twin Peaks star Sherilyn Fenn will join the cast of Dawson's Creek for the show's final three episodes this season. She'll play Joshua Jackson's evil boss.

LIKE AN ACTRESS: Madonna set to star in the new play Up for Grabs, an art-world satire opening in London's West End. The show premieres at the Wyndham Theater May 23.

LIKE A PRODUCER: Madonna's Maverick Films producing Like a Virgin, a new comedy about a girl who launches a back-to-virginity movement at her high school. It's not clear what role Madonna would play in the project, if any.

IN THE DOGHOUSE: NBC defending Tonight Show host Jay Leno Thursday after the host made a joke about disqualified South Korean skater Kim Dong-sung, saying he "was so mad he went home and kicked the dog, and then ate him." South Korean leaders condemned Leno's comments.

SPECIAL DELIVERY: Actress Marlee Matlin and husband Kevin Grandalski expecting their third child in July, her publicist announced. The Oscar winner, who has a recurring role on The West Wing, also has a 6-year-old girl and 1 1/2-year-old boy.

THERE HE GOES: Embattled Miss America Pageant head Robert Renneisen Jr. resigning without warning Friday after two years on the job. He was under fire for suggesting moving the beauty contest from its traditional Atlantic City site.