MOVIESBig Bucks for Branagh: British actor Kenneth...

MOVIES

Big Bucks for Branagh: British actor Kenneth Branagh is to receive $11.15 million to star in a film of Shakespeare’s “Othello,” a spokesman for the film said Wednesday. Branagh will play Othello’s manipulative false friend Iago in the film being made in Rome. Othello will be played by Laurence Fishburne. The new film has been described as “an erotic thriller” by director Oliver Parker, who is heavily cutting the play to make a two-hour picture. Desdemona is being played by Swiss actress Irene Jacob, who recently starred in “Red” and “The Double Life of Veronique.”

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Books, Tapes . . . Now Movies: Dove Audio Inc. of Beverly Hills has announced the creation of a film division, Dove International. The company acquired a library of more than 80 feature films from Skouras Pictures, including the 1988 Academy Award-nominated film “My Life as a Dog.” Dove President Michael Viner appointed Dimitri Skouras as president and chief executive of the new division. “We are very pleased to be associated with Mr. Skouras; we believe the film distribution area is an area of both synergy and expansion for Dove, which has its own film library and production company,” Viner said. The new offshoot will operate as a worldwide distributor of independent films and will handle rights in all media. Dove International recently made its debut at the Cannes Film Festival with its first film, “KLA$H,” a music-driven thriller starring Jasmine Guy and Giancarlo Esposito.

POP/ROCK

Jackson Still on Top: Michael Jackson’s “HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book 1” remained the nation’s highest-selling album last week with 263,000 copies sold, marking a two-week total of 654,000 based on SoundScan results released Wednesday. Neil Young’s collaboration with Pearl Jam, “Mirror Ball,” premiered at No. 5 with 98,000 copies sold--a typical debut for a Young album, suggesting that his teaming with the group will have little effect on sales. Pearl Jam, whose last two albums each sold nearly 900,000 copies in their first week, is not directly credited on the Young album, although the names of the individual band members are listed inside.

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Rock Hall Taking Shape: With the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum set to open Sept. 1 in Cleveland, the installation of exhibits began this week. A blue suede jacket worn by Elvis Presley, a sequined white outfit worn by Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison’s glasses, Johnny Cash’s guitar and tuxedos from the Temptations were among the first items brought out of storage.

PEOPLE WATCH

Houston Tormentor Relents: A man who has been harassing Whitney Houston has agreed to leave her alone. Steven Marriott, 38, signed court papers Monday in Morristown, N.J., consenting to make no contact with Houston, her family or her management company, Nippy Inc. Houston sued Marriott last month, alleging he sent flowers to her at Nippy offices and called several times, demanding to speak with her. In a call to the company on May 17, he claimed to be her brother, Houston’s lawyers say. On May 18, Marriott was arrested in his hometown of Lloyd Harbor, N.Y., for harassing a woman, says Houston lawyer Thomas Weisenbeck. At the time, he was driving a truck containing firearms and ammunition and materials used to build bombs, Weisenbeck said.

DANCE

From Russia, With Love: As part of its expanded summer program of Russian classical training, Ballet Ecarte of Culver City has engaged Marat Daukayev, a principal dancer and teacher with the Kirov/Maryinsky Ballet, St. Petersburg. Now in his early 40s, Daukayev was a bronze-medal winner of the Varna International Ballet Competition in 1972 and was first seen by local audiences during the 1986 Kirov engagement at the Shrine Auditorium. He will be guest teacher at Ballet Ecarte through the end of August.

QUICK TAKES

Bill Monroe, known as the “father of bluegrass music,” remained hospitalized in Nashville, recovering from apparent pneumonia. . . . Model Jennifer Flavin told the television show “Extra” on Monday that she is engaged to Sylvester Stallone, whose engagement to another model, Angie Everhart, recently ended.