MOVIESBasinger Suit Settled: Actress Kim Basinger reached...

MOVIES

Basinger Suit Settled: Actress Kim Basinger reached an out-of-court settlement Monday with Main Line Pictures over her refusal to appear in the film “Boxing Helena,” according to a lawyer for the film company. Attorney Patricia Glaser said Superior Court Judge Judith Chirlin approved the accord. Details were not revealed. The case had been scheduled for retrial after an appeals court rejected an $8.1-million jury award to Main Line in the first trial. In 1993, a jury had found for the production company, which claimed $5 million to $10 million in lost profits due to Basinger’s quitting the project. The actress was forced into bankruptcy by the multimillion-dollar award. Producer Carl Mazzocone had claimed he had trouble finding a U.S. distributor for the movie after he could no longer tout the Athens, Ga., native as the star. Actress Sherilyn Fenn took over the role, but the film flopped. Basinger, 41, said she decided not to do the movie because of nude scenes and because the character was too unsympathetic. The appeals panel found that Chirlin gave the jury instructions that were “prejudicially ambiguous.”

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Dressing Up ‘Showgirls’: The “Showgirls” saga continues. MGM/UA Home Video originally planned a Jan. 2 release of the NC-17 theatrical version and an edited one with three minutes of offensive footage excised. Now those plans have been changed. MGM will now issue the NC-17 version and a new, R-rated version. Last week, the controversial, poorly received Paul Verhoeven-Joe Ezsterhas film received an R-rating from the MPAA. A mere 61 seconds were cut from the theatrical version, which grossed a meager $21 million at the box office last September. Another 20 seconds were altered by using different camera angles. MGM had asked director Verhoeven to make the cuts so more video chains would be willing to carry the film. So far, Blockbuster had refused both the NC-17 and the edited version. The R-rated version has not been screened for retailers yet.

TELEVISION

China-Bound: It looks like Big Bird, or at least his Asian counterpart, will be on the tube in China in 1997. “Zhima Jie,” a Chinese version of “Sesame Street,” will be co-produced by Shanghai Television and Children’s Television Workshop with underwriting from General Electric. Currently in pre-production, the half-hour show is being developed by a team of Chinese educators and professionals with technical assistance from a team of CTW advisors. Plans call for 130 half-hour episodes to air throughout China, with showings for more than 100 million viewers every weeknight until the end of the century. “Zhima Jie” will be filmed on a Chinese “Street” and will feature human and Muppet characters, the latter especially created by Jim Henson Productions.

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Voting for ‘Quality’: ABC’s low-rated but critically acclaimed series “Murder One” is the only new fall series to win the endorsement of the Virginia-based viewer advocacy group Viewers for Quality Television. The group also gave “qualified support” to another new series, CBS’ “Bonnie Hunt Show.” On the flip side, two new programs received the most votes from the group’s members for being “poor” shows--CBS’ “Central Park West” and NBC’s defunct “Pursuit of Happiness.” Continuing shows with the most votes for full endorsement were NBC’s ratings smash “ER” and ABC’s “NYPD Blue,” followed in order by NBC’s “Homicide: Life on the Street” and “Frasier,” and Fox’s “The X-Files.”

POP/ROCK

Felony Vibrations: An Escondido couple pleaded guilty last week to federal charges of flimflamming the Navy out of $25,000 by claiming to have the Beach Boys signed up for a concert at the San Diego naval base. Georgianne Lynn Halatek, 54, and Frank Halatek, 40, will be sentenced Feb. 26 and have already agreed to make restitution. The couple were indicted in 1990 but were fugitives living under phony names for five years until being arrested in August. Georgianne Halatek pleaded guilty to five felonies and Frank Halatek to one. U.S. Atty. Melanie Pierson said the Navy paid the couple $25,000 for expenses after Georgianne Halatek convinced Navy officials that the Halateks’ small-time production company, Starfleet Productions, had the Beach Boys under contract. After the Halateks’ deception was revealed, the Navy contacted the Beach Boys and the group played to an SRO crowd at the base.

QUICK TAKES

Grammy winner Al Jarreau and cast members of “Beauty and the Beast” will be among celebrity entertainers at a tree-lighting ceremony Wednesday at 5 p.m. at the ABC Entertainment Center. Personalized ornaments will be sold to help raise funds for the Children’s Cancer Research Fund. . . . Emma Thompson will sign copies of her book, “The Sense and Sensibility Screenplay and Diaries,” today from 1 to 2 p.m. at Barnes & Noble, 3rd Street and Wilshire Boulevard, Santa Monica. Thompson adapted Jane Austen’s “Sense and Sensibility” for the screen and also stars. It opens Dec. 13. . . . Veteran KNBC-TV reporter Phil Shuman will join the syndicated show-biz series “Extra” in mid-January. . . . Come February, MCA/Universal Home Video will release “The Deanna Durbin Collection II,” featuring the films “Mad About Music,” “First Love,” “His Butler’s Sister” and “Lady on a Train.”