MOVIESNot a Sleeper: Hollywood Pictures’ “While You...

MOVIES

Not a Sleeper: Hollywood Pictures’ “While You Were Sleeping” was wide awake at the box office during its opening weekend. The romantic comedy starring Sandra Bullock and Bill Pullman took in $9.5 million to capture first place in ticket sales, according to early industry estimates. Columbia’s “Bad Boys,” last week’s front-runner, dropped to second with $7.2 million. The new release from 20th Century Fox, “Kiss of Death,” featuring former “NYPD Blue” star David Caruso, was third with $5.6 million. MGM/UA’s “Rob Roy” held strong with $5.1 million for fourth and Disney’s “A Goofy Movie” was fifth with $4.6 million.

Global Gump: Paramount’s “Forrest Gump” surpassed the $300-million mark at the international box office last week. That and the $328 million the film has grossed in the United States and Canada total $600 million-plus, making it the fourth biggest release of all time. “Gump” trails “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial” (No. 3), “The Lion King” (No. 2) and “Jurassic Park,” the leader in worldwide grosses to date.

AWARDS

‘Four Weddings’ and Five Awards: The movie “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” which catapulted British actor Hugh Grant to stardom, swept the British film awards in London Sunday, beating Oscar winner “Forrest Gump.” The hit comedy won the best film honor, the David Lean Award for best achievement in direction for director Mike Newell, best actor for Grant, best actress for Kristin Scott Thomas and a special prize for most popular film. In other awards, actress Joanna Lumley received best comedy performance for her role in the TV show “Absolutely Fabulous.” Tony Curtis, Raquel Welch, Michael Caine, Greta Scacchi, Gina Lollobrigida, Joan Collins and John Travolta were among the guests attending the so-called British Oscars at London’s Palladium theater.

TV/VIDEO

Doctor in the House: The doctors of NBC’s “ER” will soon be making house calls. The hit show’s movie-length pilot is coming to video and will be in stores on June 13. The first-ever episode highlights cases typical for the fast-paced Chicago emergency room: a gunshot victim with a hole in his chest, a frightened baby-sitter with a battered infant and a hypochondriac with a hangnail.

New Life on Lifetime: Cable’s Lifetime Television will invest $100 million in original programming geared toward its target audience--women. The new daytime lineup beginning June 5 will feature “Biggers & Summers,” a talk show hosted by Lifetime personalities Marc Summers (“Our Home”) and Sissy Biggers (“Live From Queens”). Lifestyle guru Martha Stewart will have her own show on the network--”Martha Stewart Living” will air twice daily at 9:30 a.m. and noon. Original movies on tap include “Shame II: The Secret” starring Amanda Donohoe and “Almost Golden: The Jessica Savitch Story” starring Sela Ward. “Weddings of a Lifetime,” a special featuring dream weddings come true, will air June 18. The network also plans a series of specials to coincide with National Breast Cancer Awareness month in October.

AUCTIONS

A Fine ‘Glass of Wine’: A painting by Marc Chagall sold for $519,500 to an unidentified European collector at an auction run by Sotheby’s in Tel Aviv on Saturday. The 1922 gouache was titled “Double Portrait With a Glass of Wine.” A 1926 Chagall gouache, “Les Deux Perroquets, Le Roi et Son Fils,” sold for $233,500--more than double its estimated sale price. Another Chagall work sold was a 1950 oil, “Les Amoureux au Village,” which went for $420,500. Also at the auction, seven works by Felix Nussbaum, a German artist who died in the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz in 1944, sold for well above their estimated sale prices. Sotheby’s will donate its commission from Nussbaum’s 1928 “Self Portrait With a Mask,” which was purchased by a German collector for $101,500, to a center for Holocaust survivors and their children.

QUICK TAKES

Fyvush Finkel, who won an Emmy for his role in “Picket Fences,” has been cast in Oliver Stone’s upcoming film, “Nixon.” Finkel will play Murray Chotiner, the California political figure who ran Nixon’s unsuccessful campaign for President against John F. Kennedy in 1960. . . . Cable’s USA will begin airing new episodes of “Forever Knight,” the vampire-themed action drama previously seen on CBS’ “Crime Time After Prime Time,” on its prime-time lineup this fall. The series will also air in national syndication. . . . Illusionists Siegfried and Roy will receive the second annual Liberace Legend award on May 17 at the Las Vegas mansion once owned by the late pianist. The first Liberace award, honoring “major contributions to the community and the world of entertainment,” went to entertainer Debbie Reynolds. . . . Legendary animator Chuck Jones will deliver the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Marc Davis Lecture on Animation Wednesday at the academy in Beverly Hills.