POP/ROCKLove Story: Ebony magazine claims to have...

POP/ROCK

Love Story: Ebony magazine claims to have the real inside exclusive on how Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley fell in love. The magazine says its interview with Jackson in the October issue is the first in which he talks openly about his romance with Presley. In the article, Jackson says the two first met 20 years ago in Las Vegas when Elvis took his young daughter to watch the Jackson Five. Three years ago, they renewed their friendship. But Jackson says he fell in love with Presley after she expressed so much compassion about his legal problems, his addiction to prescription drugs and his well-being after the L.A. earthquake. The two talked on the phone extensively and visited each other. “It kind of unfolded,” Jackson says. “We spent a lot of time on the ranch and just walked around and talked.” Jackson proposed to Presley over the phone. He said, “If I asked you to marry me, would you?” She said, “Of course.” Jackson said talk of the couple recording together is a “complete rumor.” But another prospect is likely: Jackson said they plan to have children.

MOVIES

‘The Phantom’ Disappears for Now: Paramount Pictures has temporarily pulled the plug on “The Phantom,” a big-budget action film based on the comic-book super-hero. The movie, to be directed by Joe Dante, had been set to begin filming Oct. 17 in northern Australia, but that has been pushed back to February, according to Alan Ladd Jr., who is producing the movie along with Robert Evans. “The question was, do we rush now to meet our October start date or do we take our time,” Ladd said. Sources say the production was postponed, in part, because the film may need a major star to justify its budget. Billy Zane, who appeared as a maniac in the 1989 movie “Dead Calm,” has been mentioned for the lead role, but no one has yet been signed. Meanwhile, sources say Michael Douglas’ production company, which recently moved to the Paramount lot, has been in high-level negotiations over whether to become involved in the production.

The $775,000 Question: The big movie at the box office over the weekend was not in the No. 1 spot. Hollywood Pictures’ much-anticipated “Quiz Show,” directed by Robert Redford, grossed $775,000 in limited release on only 27 screens for a whopping $28,700 per-screen average. The movie will expand to 220 theaters on Friday and go into wider release on Sept. 30. As for the top-grossing film during the weekend, Universal’s “Timecop” opened with $12 million, according to early industry estimates. Paramount’s “Forrest Gump” was in second with $6 million, followed by the studio’s “Clear and Present Danger” with $3.3 million. Warner Bros.’ “Natural Born Killers” was fourth with $2.9 million and New Line’s “The Mask” was fifth with $2 million.

Toronto Winners: “Priest,” Antonia Bird’s drama about a traditional Catholic who begins questioning the values of the church, received the People’s Choice Award for best feature at the 19th annual Toronto International Film Festival on Sunday. The British movie is Bird’s first feature film. The Tunisian release “Les Silences du Palais” (“The Silences of the Palace”), Moufida Tlatli’s film about a young singer who looks into her past, received the International Film Critics Award for best first feature. The 10-day festival included 296 movies from 45 countries.

TELEVISION

The Doctor Is Out?: Rob Morrow reportedly will leave “Northern Exposure” in the middle of the new TV season. Producers of the CBS show have denied reports that Morrow’s Dr. Joel Fleischman will depart, but TV Guide says in the Sept. 27 issue that Universal will let him out of the rest of his contract without a fight. Morrow, who also stars in the movie “Quiz Show,” apparently wants to pursue more film work. But the show’s producers reportedly will introduce two new characters to replace Morrow--Dr. Phillip Cooper and his wife will move to Cicely, Alaska, to escape big-city life.

True to Life: Actress Tracey Gold, the former star of TV’s “Growing Pains” who underwent her own much-publicized battle with anorexia nervosa, will star as another real-life woman struggling with the disease in “For the Love of Nancy,” an ABC movie airing Oct. 2. Gold plays 18-year-old Nancy Walsh, a college freshman whose parents take her to court when she refuses medical help for her disease. Jill Clayburgh and William Devane co-star.

QUICK TAKES

“Alfie,” Bill Naughton’s black comedy which has been touring Britain, will play at the Tiffany Theater in West Hollywood on Oct. 13-Nov. 20. The play, starring and directed by former British pop singer Adam Faith, is part of UK/LA 1994, a festival of British arts going on in Los Angeles this fall. . . . Bree Walker-Lampley, the former KCBS-TV Channel 2 anchorwoman who left to form her own production company, has a leading role in CBS’ upcoming science-fiction movie, “The Deception.” Walker-Lampley’s previous acting experience has been limited to cameos.