FIRST LOOK: The News in Brief, October 31, 2005

A CLOSE SHAVE: Gorefest Saw II grossing an estimated $30.5 million in its debut weekend to win the Halloween weekend box office ahead of The Legend of Zorro, which finished in a distant second place.

FAMILY FEUD: As their custody battle grows increasingly bitter, an attorney for Alec Baldwin asking an L.A. judge today for a psychological evaluation of ex-wife Kim Basinger, accusing her of harboring a "pathological need" to keep their 10-year-old daughter away from him.

RETIRING: French acting legend Gerard Depardieu telling the weekly Le Parisien Dimanche that he's done making movies. "I have done 170 films. I have nothing left to prove," the 56-year-old thesp said. "I am not going to hang on like a jerk."

PLAYING GAMES? The Game arrested in North Carolina for allegedly causing a scene at a mall and refusing to remove a Halloween mask.

TAXING TIMES: A federal jury in Los Angeles convicting Ronald Isley of tax evasion Monday. The R&B singer faces over 20 years in jail when sentenced Jan. 9.

JUST A DAYDREAM: Per the Hollywood Reporter, Paramount Pictures' long-awaited big screen adaptation of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, which was supposed to star Owen Wilson, shelved again after the studio failed to nail down a female costar.

MENCIA MADNESS: Comedy Central picking up a second season of Mind of Mencia, featuring comedian Carlos Mencia, as well as signing him to do a one-hour stand-up special and to host a live-performance tour in more than 30 U.S. cities next year.

REPORTING FOR DUTY: Polly Bergen joining the cast of ABC's Commander in Chief, playing the mother of Geena Davis. Her first episode is set for Nov. 29.

LIVE 8 LOADED: Per Billboard, the Live 8 series of 10 concerts from this past July raising awareness of the need for increased African aid also raising more than $12 million from the sale of TV and DVD rights and other ancillary sources. The surplus was donated to anti-poverty programs on that continent.

NO MORE TURKEY: Martha Stewart telling Fortune magazine that she's putting Turkey Hill, her three bedroom Westport, Connecticut home that she's owned for more than 30 years, on the market because she's hardly ever there anymore. She's hoping to fetch $10 million for it.

LEAVING THE TRIBE: Survivor producer Mark Burnett telling TV Guide that he expects host Jeff Probst will exit the show after next spring's 12th installment. His likely replacement with be a former female player from the show.

THINKING BIG: Former Apprentice contestant Raj Bhakta, 29, announcing he plans to run for Congress in Pennsylvania as a pro-choice Republican against Democratic Representative Allyson Schwartz in 2006.

ON THE DOCKET: According to Variety, Jerry Bruckheimer Television developing American Crime, a drama pilot exploring the world of high-powered Los Angeles lawyers like Mark Geragos and Robert Shapiro, for Fox.

POST-BABY PLANS: Jennifer Garner and her Vandalia Films setting up Sabbatical, a future vehicle for her at Touchstone Pictures. The film's an erotic thriller about a married couple who agree to take a break from their union to do whatever they want only to find the husband has disappeared when their two weeks apart are up.

PAPERBACK WRITER: The Beatles: The Biography, a new 856-page biography on the rock legends by Bob Spitz, who obtained the participation of Paul McCartney and the late George Harrison, hitting bookstores Nov. 1.

BARGAIN HUNTING! The white suit John Lennon wore on the album cover of Abbey Road selling for $118,000 at a Las Vegas auction.

REMEMBERED: The funeral for teen actress Tara Correa-McMullen, who played a former gang member on Judging Amy, held Friday in Los Angeles after she was shot to death in possible gang-related violence Oct. 21.

READY TO DEAL: Howie Mandel set to host a new game show for NBC, Deal or No Deal, that's been a huge hit internationally in more than 38 countries.

SETTING SAIL: As a way to promote its upcoming sequels to Pirates of the Caribbean, Disney sponsoring the U.S. entry in the Volvo Ocean Race, a 31,250-mile, around-the-world trek starting Nov. 12 in Vigo, Spain. The studio's ship will be adorned with the movie's skull and crossed cutlasses on its sails.

SETTING SAIL PART II: Dave Matthews headlining an exclusive concert in the Bahamas as part of a three day rock and roll cruise next February. The "Dave Matthews & Friends Caribbean Cruise Getaway" will set sail Feb. 3, 2006 from Miami and will arrive at an undisclosed private island location where the Dave Matthews Band and others acts like Ozomatli will perform.

HELPING OUT:: Willie Nelson raising $170,000 for pal Kinky Friedman, an independent candidate for Texas governor, by holding an event at his central-Texas ranch and private golf course Sunday that was attended by former Minnesota governor, Jesse Ventura.