MOVIES’Bad Boys’ Makes Good: Will Smith and...

MOVIES

‘Bad Boys’ Makes Good: Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, starring in Columbia’s cop comedy “Bad Boys,” were anything but bad at the box office during the weekend. Their movie took in an impressive $15.6 million in its opening weekend--the biggest opening weekend for any film yet this year, according to early industry estimates. The film did better than the previous 1995 record-holder, Warner Bros.’ “Outbreak,” which grossed $13.4 million its first weekend. Overall, business at the box office turned brisk, a trend that insiders say bodes well for the upcoming Easter weekend. In second place was Disney’s animated “A Goofy Movie” with $6.5 million for its premiere weekend. Paramount’s “Tommy Boy” took third with $6.4 million. New Line’s “Don Juan DeMarco” came in fourth with $4.6 million for its first weekend outing. “Outbreak” took fifth for its fifth week in release with $4 million. Box-office notes: MGM’s “Rob Roy” had a surprisingly strong opening in limited release, grossing $2.1 million on just 133 screens for a whopping per-screen average of about $16,000. The movie goes into wide release on Friday. And Savoy Pictures’ “Circle of Friends” is keeping up quite a nice pace--the movie took in $3.9 million on just 788 screens.

Sgt. Martin: Steve Martin, Dan Aykroyd and Phil Hartman are remaking “Sgt. Bilko.” Martin will play the title character, the sergeant who takes his fellow soldiers to the cleaners, made popular in the 1950s sitcom “You’ll Never Get Rich” starring Phil Silvers. (The show’s title was later changed to “The Phil Silvers Show.”) The movie, which has begun principal photography in Los Angeles, is the third collaboration between Martin and producer Brian Grazer, following “Parenthood” and “Housesitter.” Jonathan Lynn (“My Cousin Vinny”) is directing.

TELEVISION

Be Their Guest: KCAL-TV Channel 9 will mark Thursday’s Los Angeles premiere of the stage version of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” with a special about the show. “Disney’s ‘Beauty and the Beast,’ the Musical--Broadway Comes to L.A.,” featuring live coverage of opening night at the Shubert Theatre, will air at 8 p.m. KCAL will also take a behind-the-scenes look at the production and interview stars including Susan Egan (Belle), Terrence Mann (Beast) and Tom Bosley. Tawny Little and Kerry Kilbride are set to host.

LEGAL FILE

‘Honda . . . James Honda’: A Los Angeles judge has temporarily barred American Honda Motor Co. from continuing to air a TV commercial for its Civic del Sol that the judge says contains “several specific aspects . . . lifted from the ‘James Bond’ films.” MGM, which makes the Bond films, claimed the ad violated its copyright to the character. The ban will remain in effect until a trial can be held to determine if Honda violated the studio’s ownership rights. According to MGM’s lawsuit, the ad features a suave and understated 40ish English secret agent, with a beautiful female passenger, deftly maneuvering his gadget-laden sports car to evade a chasing helicopter. Honda claims that MGM is trying to gain a monopoly over the “action/spy/police hero” genre, which cannot be copyrighted.

BENEFITS

Helping to Fight AIDS: Scott Bakula, Madeline Kahn, Bernadette Peters and Angela Lansbury took part in a performance Saturday night in New York of “Anyone Can Whistle,” a rarely presented Stephen Sondheim musical. Sondheim also attended the event at Carnegie Hall, which raised more than $650,000 for the AIDS service organization Gay Men’s Health Crisis. The play, about a fake miracle in a small town, hasn’t had a major production in New York since it was first done in 1964 with Lansbury as the star. It lasted only only nine performances on Broadway, the shortest run of any Sondheim musical. Saturday’s performance was recorded by Columbia Records and will be released in June with some of the proceeds going to Gay Men’s Health Crisis. . . . On this coast, the L.A. Shanti AIDS Benefit featuring a sold-out concert by Bette Midler, Melissa Etheridge and Melissa Manchester at the Wiltern Theatre on Thursday raised $360,000. Elizabeth Taylor donated more than $50,000, and Marvin and Barbara Davis were also big contributors, organizers said.

QUICK TAKES

Steve Martin’s play “Picasso at the Lapin Agile,” now at the Westwood Playhouse, will have its New York premiere this fall at a yet-to-be-announced Off Broadway theater. . . . The L.A. comedy troupe the Groundlings received a standing ovation from the Simpson trial jurors after giving them a private performance on Saturday. . . . Pop group Duran Duran will be at the Wherehouse at Beverly Connection tonight from 6-8 to sign copies of its new CD, “Thank You,” an album covering songs by such diverse artists as Elvis Costello, Grand Master Flash, Public Enemy and Lou Reed. Six thousand fans showed up for a similar in-store appearance by the band in New York.