FIRST LOOK: The News in Brief, September 6, 2003

OLD FRIENDS: Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel scheduling a "special" press conference Tuesday in New York City. Speculation is that they will announce a reunion tour, their first in more than a decade.

DICKIE'S BIG COMEBACK: David Spade's Hollywood has-been comedy Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star winning the traditionally lackluster post-summer weekend box-office derby with just $7 million in receipts.

TREAD ON HIM: Meanwhile, Spade getting a star Friday on Hollywood's Walk of Fame. The SNL alum received the 2,235th star on the historic sidewalk.

DELIBERATE DELIBERATING: Jurors in Marilyn Manson's civil trial to resume deliberating the rocker's fate on Monday. They've already spent two days trying to decide whether Manson should be punished for allegedly grabbing a security guard and gyrating aginst him with his crotch. The guard's seeking more than $75,000 in damages.

BAD RAP: C-Murder, aka Corey Miller, the brother of hip-hop mogul Master P, facing trial Monday in Louisiana in the shooting death of 16-year-old.

GOLDEN: The Return, a Russian film about a father reuniting with his sons and directed by first-time filmmaker Andrey Zvyagintsev winning the Golden Lion at Venice Film Festival Saturday. Sean Penn was named top actor for his role in the drug drama 21 Grams.

MAGIC TIME: Trickster David Blaine launching his latest stunt Friday in London--he'll be suspended in a plastic box sans food for 44 days.

IDLED IDOL TUNES: Songs from such artists as Bruce Springsteen, Mariah Carey and Carly Simon won't be allowed on the third edition of American Idol, according to People. Sources speculate that acquiring the TV rights to the songs could be cost prohibitive.

GIVE HIM SOME SPACE: Lance Bass acting as the 2003 youth spokesperson for World Space Week, which runs October 4-10. Bass will lead a contest for students to design a hypothetical International Space Station module. Winners will get to meet the 'N Syncer at an awards ceremony early next year.

GOOD BEHAVIOR: A judge ruling on Thursday that Beanie Sigel can attend a residential treatment program for substance abuse and anger management while awaiting his federal drug and weapons trial. In return, the rapper had to post a $1 million bond because prosecutors deemed him a flight risk.

TUBE TALK: CBS giving the go-ahead for a small-screen version of Ronin, the 1998 feature originally starring Robert De Niro. The series will follow a CIA agent left out in the cold by the agency.

GOING THE DISTANCE: The WB and VH1 snagging television rights to broadcast last year's box office hit 8 Mile, starring Eminem. VH1 will air the movie first beginning in April 2005.

UNDER THE KNIFE: FX renewing its hit plastic-surgery drama Nip/Tuck for a second season starting early next spring. The series has averaged a healthy 3.4 million viewers.

SELLING LIKE BUBBLE GUM: Justified and Stripped, the respective solo albums from tour mates Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera, both certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.

AN OFFER THEY CAN'T REFUSE? The recording industry planning to announce as early as next week an amnesty program for people who fess up to illegally sharing music files on the Web. The RIAA promises not to sue them if they admit their guilt and delete songs off their computers.

PASSING: Murder Inc. rapper D.O. Cannon, real name Gerard Fields, died Friday after being shot twice in the chest and once in the leg on a Queens street. No arrests have been made.