What's happening in Hollywood

EXPLAINING THE CHANGES IN 'E.T.'

Online controversy notwithstanding, producers of "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" are getting the word out that, in their estimation, editorial changes being made for a 20th anniversary re-release of Steven Spielberg's classic 1982 sci-fi fantasy do not destroy the integrity of the original.

Producer Kathleen Kennedy told USA Today there are some changes, but nothing radical.

"We're sitting here 20 years later with computer graphics and the ability to make small, subtle changes to E.T.'s performance," said Kennedy. For example, when the little alien guy says his famous line -- "E.T. phone home" -- Kennedy said his vocal mechanics will be more closely matched with the dialogue.

Online complaints have already been registered about showing police officers holding walkie-talkies instead of guns as they chase the kids who are trying to help "E.T." -- and about changing a line of dialogue in which Elliott's mom refuses to let him go trick-or-treating as a terrorist, changing the reference to "hippie."

Marvin Levy, a spokesman for Spielberg, told USA Today that the terrorist-hippie change had been made years ago for a telecast of "E.T.," but is now permanent.

"It was really not appropriate for a kid to say 'terrorist,' " said Levy. "At this time, it would really be interpreted the wrong way."

As for the walkie-talkies instead of guns in the hands of police officers, Spielberg was quoted in the past as saying he was sorry he had the cops holding guns.

"It didn't make any difference what they were being chased with," Levy says. "They were being chased."

Film historian Leonard Maltin is not happy about the changes -- no matter how well-intended they are -- to what he calls one of his favorite films.

"I understand all the reasons for doing it, beyond the commercial motives," said Maltin. "I understand, too, that an artist is never satisfied with his own work. But I'm just old-fashioned enough to believe that when you finish something, it makes a statement, whether artistically or in the commercial marketplace, and you should stand by that statement."

HACKMAN A TOUGH GUY OFF SCREEN

Police in Los Angeles reported that Gene Hackman traded punches with a man following a minor traffic collision Monday.

Neither combatant was injured and no one was arrested, police said.

There are conflicting accounts of what happened.

Hackman and the other driver got out of their cars to exchange insurance information when, according to a publicist for Hackman, the other driver and a male passenger started shoving the 71-year-old two-time Oscar-winner around.

According to one account, the fight was over by the time officers arrived at the scene. Other reports indicate that police broke up the fight. According to one account, Hackman punched the other guy several times before the third man kicked Hackman in the groin.

Since no charges were filed, the matter will not end up in criminal court.

Hackman won the Oscar for best actor in 1971 for "The French Connection." He won the supporting actor Oscar for "Unforgiven" in 1992. He'll show up in U.S. theaters Nov. 9 in the new David Mamet movie, "Heist," and on Dec. 14 in the Ben Stiller-Gwyneth Paltrow comedy, "The Royal Tenenbaums."

J. LO IN FOR HALLE BERRY

Jennifer Lopez is reportedly replacing Halle Berry in the cast of Ben Affleck's upcoming project, "Gigli" -- described as the story of a mobster who kidnaps a district attorney's mentally challenged brother, and the woman sent by the mob to make sure he does the job right.

Filming is scheduled to begin next month, with Martin Brest ("Meet Joe Black," "Scent of a Woman," "Beverly Hills Cop") directing from his own screenplay.

Berry had been expected to co-star with Affleck, but she had a scheduling conflict with "X-Men 2," the sequel to last year's box-office hit.

TRAILER WARS

The next time you watch trailers for coming attractions at the movies, consider the politicking that goes into the placement of trailers and the images that some of them contain.

According to a report in Daily Variety, it was a "watershed pact between two pioneering film producers" that led to the screening of trailers for "Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones" before "Monsters, Inc.," opening nationwide Friday.

The agreement between George Lucas' Lucasfilm and Pixar Animation Studios did not involve any input from 20th Century Fox, which is distributing "Star Wars," or Disney, which is distributing "Monsters, Inc." -- and Variety reported that the deal is causing concern among studios, who may fear losing control of a valuable element of the Hollywood marketing machine.

"The question is," a studio chief told Variety, "Who owns that space before the movie? Is it the theater? Is it someone who produced or starred in the movie? Or is it the studio?"

The "Star Wars" trailer is attached to the first reel of "Monsters, Inc.," meaning it will be seen most often among all trailers screened ahead of the feature during its theatrical run. Lucasfilm holds a financial stake in Pixar, which had been Lucasfilm's computer animation unit before the studio sold it to Apple in 1986.

There is a report in the Los Angeles Times that the Lucasfilm-Pixar relationship may have something to do with a Lucasfilm decision to scrap plans to use an image of the DreamWorks animated hit, "Shrek," in a new promotional trailer for THX -- the Lucas-developed and owned sound system that is used in more than 2,500 U.S. theaters.

The trailer showed Shrek playing bagpipes and his sidekick, Donkey, playing an accordion.

DreamWorks marketing chief Terry Press told the Times the studio pitched the idea to THX in June, and THX "seemed extremely excited by the idea ... until a week and a half ago."

DreamWorks officials told the paper that after Pixar and Disney found out about the trailer -- which would have played before "Monsters, Inc." -- Disney threatened to pull all its business from THX unless the trailer was scrapped. The Times reported that Disney denied the allegation, and quoted a Pixar spokesman as saying the studio didn't "know anything about this."

A THX official told the paper that she just decided it was better for THX not to be "tied to any one film project or film."

SAG EASES UP ON LOW-BUDGET PRODUCTIONS

The Screen Actors Guild has announced changes in rules covering compensation for actors in low-budget productions.

The union said the changes include the establishment of a standard residual structure in its Experimental, Limited Exhibition and Modified Low Budget Agreements, intended to enable producers to collect more revenue from distributors.

The Modified Low Budget Agreement -- which formerly applied to films with budgets under $500,000 -- now permits a budget up to $750,000 to be considered a Modified Low Budget, but only if the project meets new diversity casting requirements.

Similar casting diversity language has also been incorporated into the $2 million Low Budget Agreement, so that productions which meet diversity goals can be considered Low Budget, even if their budgets are as high as $3 million.

"It is our hope that these modifications will encourage even greater numbers of filmmakers to use SAG contracts and draw upon the SAG talent pool," said Richard Herd, chairman of SAG's low-budget task force.

GOODMAN -- AGAIN

John Goodman is closing in on Steve Martin's record for number of times as guest host of "Saturday Night Live."

The former star of "Roseanne" -- who currently co-stars with Billy Crystal in the voice cast of "Monsters, Inc." -- will do the guest host thing this Saturday, with musical guest Ja Rule.

It will be Goodman's 12th time as guest host of "SN," leaving him one behind Martin's record. It will be Ja Rule's first appearance on the long-running NBC sketch comedy show.