MOVIES’Hot Zone’ in Twilight Zone: The big...

MOVIES

‘Hot Zone’ in Twilight Zone: The big question in Hollywood this week is whether Robert Redford will drop out of the $55-million virus-run-amok movie, “Crisis in the Hot Zone.” Sources say Redford and screenwriter Paul Attanasio (“Quiz Show”) recently spent three days in Connecticut furiously rewriting and, at times, even cutting and pasting a revised script together. The 20th Century Fox project--for which Fox is putting up $35 million and director Ridley Scott $20 million--is still without a lead actress. Holly Hunter, once rumored to be a front-runner, backed out because there was no finished script, and she is now committed to New Regency’s “Copycat,” which starts in September with Sigourney Weaver. Sharon Stone’s name has now surfaced for “Hot Zone.” Meanwhile, Warner Bros. has begun filming its competing virus movie, “Outbreak,” in Ferndale, Calif. The high-spirited race to be the first studio out with a virus thriller has had the rivals taking jabs at each other. Last week, an ad appeared in the trades announcing the beginning of filming for “Outbreak.” It included a photograph of a screaming monkey, which led some in Hollywood to joke whether the monkey was really producer Arnold Kopelson or the film’s star, Dustin Hoffman, “post-virus.”

It’s Only a Movie!A medieval battle-scene shot for Mel Gibson’s epic film “Braveheart” turned into farce when hundreds of overzealous Irish extras allegedly battered each other, according to a report in England’s Daily Mirror. About 500 Irish army reservists ended up hospitalized, most with cuts and bruises, after reportedly taking the battle a bit too seriously and hitting each other with wooden swords, axes and spears. The $100-million film calls for the re-enactment of the 1297 Battle of Stirling in Scotland.

POP/ROCK

Back to Bethel: Bethel ‘94, one of the two competing concerts celebrating Woodstock’s 25th anniversary, has announced its lineup. Of the 14 groups signed to perform at the concert on Aug. 13 and 14, nine played at the original 1969 Woodstock festival. Richie Havens, Country Joe, Melanie, John Sebastian, Mountain, Canned Heat, Iron Butterfly, Sha Na Na and Blood, Sweat & Tears are the returnees. Judy Collins, Fleetwood Mac, Chambers Brothers, Tom Paxton and Leon Russell are also set to play on the original Woodstock site, Max Yasgur’s farm in Bethel, N.Y. Tickets to the event go on sale today through Ticketmaster for $94.69, which includes parking, camping and shuttle bus transportation. The Woodstock ’94 concert is set for the same weekend in the town of Saugerties, N.Y.

TELEVISION

Honeymoon in Vegas: NBC’s “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno” will take a gamble on Las Vegas when the show airs from the MGM Grand hotel-casino’s Hollywood Theatre for the week of Sept. 19-23. The guest list hasn’t been announced yet.

Critically Acclaimed: Charles Kuralt, the retired host of CBS’ “Sunday Morning,” was honored by the Television Critics Assn. with a career achievement award at the Universal Hilton in Universal City on Friday. “Late Show With David Letterman” won the group’s program of the year award. NBC’s “Frasier” and ABC’s “NYPD Blue,” both nominated for multiple Emmys, won for outstanding achievement. Winners were voted on by the 180-member association.

Welcome Back, Rockford: James Garner is reopening “The Rockford Files.” Garner, star of the popular 1970s series, will return in the role of private detective Jim Rockford in six two-hour movies on CBS over the next two seasons. The show’s original co-creator, Stephen J. Cannell, is involved in the project. “The Rockford Files” first aired in 1974 and ran for six seasons.

MUSIC

Music for a Summer Afternoon: UCLA’s Henry J. Bruman Summer Chamber Music Festival, a free concert series, begins its seventh season today. The festival runs every Monday and Thursday from 1 to 2 p.m. at UCLA’s Schoenberg Auditorium until Aug. 25. The concerts feature musicians from the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and the UCLA Department of Music. Chamber works by Mozart, Beethoven, Rachmaninoff and others are on tap.

QUICK TAKES

NBC will officially kick off its fall schedule on Sept. 18 with a two-hour season opener for “SeaQuest DSV.” The following night, the network will start its new fall lineup with a two-hour preview of “ER,” Michael Crichton’s medical drama. . . . Are you a 15- to 18-year-old with power skills in the martial arts, gymnastics and/or hip-hop dance? Then you could be a Mighty Morphin Power Ranger. Saban Entertainment is holding an open casting call for Fox’s popular children’s series today from 1:30-4:30 p.m. at 918 Magnolia Blvd., Burbank. Males must be under 5-foot-11 and females under 5-7. . . . MTV will premiere the new Rolling Stones video “Love Is Strong” (from the “Voodoo Lounge” album), featuring the band members as giants performing amid the skyscrapers of New York City, today at 8 a.m. and replay it at 1 p.m., 3 p.m. and 9 p.m. VH-1 will air the video at 10 a.m. . . .