News from the entertainment capital

AND THE KITCHEN SINK

In case "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" needs any help packing them in, Anakin Skywalker and friends will be there to provide a box-office boost for Harry and his friends.

Lucasfilm Ltd. announced on its starwars.com Web site that the new teaser for "Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones" will play in front of "Potter."

The studio said the trailer focuses on the love story between Anakin and Padmé Amidala and provides "the first real look at the Attack of the Clones story."

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

Warners Bros. has rescheduled the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie that it took off the release schedule following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks out of sensitivity over the tragedy.

"Collateral Damage" -- in which the big guy plays a Los Angeles firefighter whose wife and son are killed by a terrorist bomb -- had been on the schedule for an October release. It's been reset for Feb. 8.

Studio executives said a test audience at a recent screening had a positive reaction to the picture, suggesting that sufficient time has passed to allow for a theatrical release without running the risk of offending the public.

CASTING NOTES

According to various published reports in Hollywood, "Miss Congeniality" director Donald Petrie has replaced Danny DeVito as the director of "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" -- a comedy about a ladies' man who makes a bet with his buds that he can stay true to one woman for 10 days.

Kate Hudson is reportedly interested in playing the woman.

Jim Carrey is reportedly planning to produce and star in "The Children of the Dust Bowl," adapted from the 1992 book by Jerry Stanley about the children of desperately poor Oklahoma farm families who went to California in 1939 looking for a better life.

The book tells the story of a group of migrant laborers at the Arvin Federal Camp, the emergency shelter depicted in John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath." Under the direction of a public high school superintendent, Leo Hart, the kids built their own school -- known as Weedpatch Camp -- in a nearby field.

McG -- the director of last year's box-office hit, "Charlie's Angels" -- has agreed to try his hand at the sequel. None of the movie's three main stars -- Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz or Lucy Liu -- has signed on yet, but Diaz is reportedly in talks to make the sequel.

Catherine Zeta-Jones will join George Clooney in the upcoming Coen Brothers black comedy, "Intolerable Cruelty," with Clooney as a high-priced divorce lawyer and Zeta-Jones as the wife of his client. After she gets a paltry settlement in her divorce, she swears to get revenge on her husband's lawyer -- but falls in love with him instead.

LOVITZ WILL STAR IN TV SHOW

Jon Lovitz will join fellow "Saturday Night Live" alumnus Norm MacDonald in a comedy pilot for NBC that's being made by yet another former "SNL" cast member, Adam Sandler.

It's the first TV project for Sandler's production company, Happy Madison -- named for two characters Sandler played in the movies, Happy Gilmore and Billy Madison.

NBC envisions adding the show to its primetime scheduled for the 2002-03 season.

BEATLES FOR SALE

A six-minute recording featuring all four Beatles, Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys and legendary surfer guitarists Dick Dale talking about music, fashion, hair styles and other stuff sold for $10,400 Wednesday night in an online auction conducted by Collectors Universe (collectors.com).

That's a lot more than the 1964 recording sold for earlier this year, when it fetched $5 at a Los Angeles area flea market.

"The recording is an extraordinary Rock 'n' Roll conference call," said Dave Gioia, a Collectors Universe executive.

It includes comments by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Star, along with Wilson and Dale -- recorded as part of a promotion for a Hollywood event called Teen Fair. The event was held March 11, 1964 at the height of Beatle mania.

The record -- an eight-inch, 33 1/3 RPM Capitol Records acetate disk -- also features excepts from the Beatles hit, "Can't Buy Me Love," the Beach Boys classic, "Fun, Fun, Fun ('till her Daddy takes the T-Bird away") and Dale's instrumental, "Mr. Eliminator."

During the conversation, the Beatles talk about an untitled movie project that eventually became "A Hard Day's Night."

LETTING THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG

The Hollywood Women's Press Club is scheduled to announce next week its list of nominees for this year's Golden Apple Awards -- given each year to stars who the HWPC determines have been the most cooperative and available to women journalists.

However, gossip columnist Mitchell Fink has apparently beat the organization to the punch.

Fink reported that the nominees for Female State of the Year will be Drew Barrymore, Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore, Gwyneth Paltrow, Reese Witherspoon and Catherine Zeta-Jones. He said the nominees for Male Star of the Year are Ben Affleck, Rob Lowe, Brad Pitt, Will Smith, Kevin Spacey and Ben Stiller.

Fink reported the HWPC has already decided one category -- the Sour Apple Award, given to the least cooperative entertainer of the year. He said the award this year will go to Jerry Springer.

Winners will be announced Dec. 2 in Beverly Hills, Calif. -- unless, perhaps, Fink finds out about them ahead of time and announces them first.

'RINGS' SCREENING WILL BENEFIT WTC FUND

New Line Cinema has announced that an advance screening of its upcoming release, "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," will be turned into a fund-raiser for the New York State World Trade Center Relief Fund.

Several of the actors from the movie are expected to attend the Dec. 13 screening at the Ziegfeld Theatre and a reception afterward.

STARS LINE UP FOR DIVERSITY AWARDS

Kris Kristofferson will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Multicultural Motion Picture Association's 9th Annual Diversity Awards, being presented Saturday night in the grand ballroom of Hollywood & Highland -- the new permanent home of the Academy Awards.

The MMPA will also present diversity awards to the Showtime cable network, and the cast of the CBS show, "Survivor: The Australian Outback."

The MMPA is a non-profit organization dedicated to honoring diversity in movies and TV.

Oscar-nominated actress Sally Kirkland -- a main organizer of the event -- said the association and the diversity awards are intended to foster the ideal that "no matter what race, creed, lifestyle, we all should have a fair shot at our craft."

The organization honored Kirkland with its Pinnacle Award in 1999.

"It was just as important to me as winning the Golden Globe or being nominated for an Oscar," said Kirkland, "because I am an ordained minister (Church of the Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness). Being on a spiritual path is the most important thing in my life."