MAKING NICE? A lawyer for Tommy Lee saying the rocker's long-simmering custody battle with ex-wife Pamela Anerson may be settled by Monday. The two have been fighting over their two sons since splitting in 1999.
OUTWIT, OUTLAST, OUTLITIGATE? CBS and the producers of Survivor threatening to sue ABC for allegedly ripping off the reality series by going ahead with plans for a U.S. version of the British show I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, which drops a group of B-level stars in the wild and follows them as they fend for themselves.
SPEAKING OF LAWSUITS: The publisher of Rosie magazine suing Rosie O'Donnell for $100 million for pulling out of the venture last month. Gruner & Jahr Publishing and the former talk-show host had been feuding for months over the direction of the magazine.
IN THE SACK: Val Kilmer signing on to play late porn king John Holmes in Lions Gate Films? Wonderland, a movie about the 1981 quadruple homicide involving Holmes and his teenage lover. Lisa Kudrow, Josh Lucas, Christina Applegate and Kevin Pollak are in talks to costar. Shooting starts in Los Angeles in November.
SOUNDTRACKING: Eminem to release the soundtrack to his movie debut, 8 Mile, October 29. The disc includes three new Em songs and tracks from Nas, Jay-Z, Gang Starr and Rakim. The film is due November 8.
GRAMMY'S NEW GUY: Record executive Neil Portnow named new head of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences. He'll replace the controversial Michael Greene, who resigned in April.
REMEMBERED: Walter Annenberg, founding publisher of TV Guide and Seventeen magazine, noted philanthropist and former U.S. Ambassador to Britain, has died at his home in Pennsylvania after a brief bout with pneumonia. He was 94.
GET CAINE: The American Film Institute announcing it will honor Oscar-winning actor Michael Caine at its annual AFI Fest Tribute. The event be held on November 16 at the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood and hosted by film critic Leonard Maltin.
ROCK THE WEST WING: The West Wing producers writing nonprofit group Rock the Vote into this season's second episode. The show will talk about youth empowerment and feature performances by Aimee Mann and Barenaked Ladies.
PRESIDENTIAL POLITICS: Meanwhile, the show's producers telling TV Guide that Rob Lowe's exclusion in recent NBC promos for the new season was not intentional. The actor was supposedly busy shooting the TV movie The Christmas Shoes in Nova Scotia.
BACK ON BROADWAY: British composer Andrew Lloyd Webber bringing his new musical, Bombay Dreams, to Broadway in spring 2004. Webber will produce the show, which pays tribute to the Bollywood movie musicals of India.BROADWAY ADD: Sally Field making her Broadway debut this week opposite Bill Irwin in Edward Albee's 2002 Tony Award winning The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?.
MORE STAGE NEWS: Following the successful debuts of ABBA's Mamma Mia! and Queen's We Will Rock You, London producers developing musicals around Rod Stewart's greatest hits and Fleetwood Mac's Rumors album.
WISE MEN SAY... The newly released Elvis: 30 No. 1 Hits expected to debut Wednesday at the top of the charts after selling nearly 500,000 copies in the United States, according to SoundScan. The disc also hit number one in England, Ireland and Canada.
ACED: Elton John, India.Arie and Jamie Foxx among the entertainers performing at tennis star Andre Agassi's annual charity concert in Las Vegas, helping raise more than $5.6 million for his foundation, which helps at-risk children in his hometown.
DUCK DODGERS TO THE RESCUE! Warner Bros. Animation planning Duck Dodgers, a new series featuring Daffy Duck and Porky Pig in outer space and scheduled to bow in 2004 on the Cartoon Network. Warner is also planning Teen Titans, a cartoon featuring Batman sidekick Robin and four other teen superheroes.
TIMES TWO: No Doubt singer Gwen Stefani and Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale tying the knot again in Los Angeles on September 28 in a celeb-filled ceremony. The couple already swapped vows earlier this month in London before family and close friends.SPLITSVILLE: Manufactured British pop band Hear?Say, which made British pop history scoring a number one single and album simultaneously, announcing they?ve broken up after less than two years because of constant abuse from the public.
SO MUCH FOR CULTURAL DIPLOMACY: The U.S. government turning down a visa request by famed Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami, who wants to attend the New York Film Festival. Kiarostami, one of the world's leading filmmakers, had visited the U.S. numerous times before without a problem, but now the government says post-September 11 restrictions will keep him out.
CULTURAL DIPLOMACY PART TWO: Meanwhile, Finnish director Aki Kaurismaki announcing he will boycott the New York Film Festival in protest of Kiarostami being denied a visa. "If international cultural exchange is prevented, what is left? An exchange of arms?" the filmmaker told the New York Times.