Arts and entertainment reports from The Times, national and international news services and the nation’s press.

TELEVISION

Back in the Anchor Chair: Walter Cronkite, who retired from his long-held anchor post at CBS News in 1981, will briefly take the anchor’s seat again to lead, with CNN’s John Holliman, the cable network’s coverage of U.S. Sen. John Glenn’s return to space. Cronkite covered Glenn’s original 1962 space mission and will co-anchor both the Oct. 29 launch and the Nov. 7 landing. He will also contribute to Holliman’s coverage of Glenn’s nine-day mission aboard the space shuttle Discovery. CNN Chairman Tom Johnson noted that Cronkite’s involvement will “provide CNN’s viewers with a sense of both the history and progress that this mission represents.”

NBC Joining Discovery’s Titanic Expedition: NBC will collaborate with Discovery Channel on the cable network’s monthlong expedition to the heart of the Titanic wreckage. NBC coverage will include an Aug. 12 edition of “Dateline NBC” called “Raising the Titanic,” as well as segments of “NBC Nightly News With Tom Brokaw” and “Today.” Discovery’s live, two-hour special from inside the Titanic wreckage airs on Aug. 16 at 8 p.m.

MOVIES & VIDEO

Smaller Than a Bread Box: The much-hyped summer film “Godzilla,” which has done only so-so business at the box office, will be released on home video Nov. 3. Backed by a multimillion-dollar promotional campaign, the Columbia TriStar Home Video release will sell for a suggested $14.95, and will also be available in wide-screen, laserdisc and DVD formats.

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Black Hollywood Film Festival: Actor-director Forest Whitaker will chair the first Black Hollywood Film Festival, scheduled for Feb. 19-21 at USC’s School of Cinema-Television. Sponsored by the trade publication Black Talent News, the festival is planned as an annual competition for black filmmakers from the U.S. and Canada, and aims to bring added attention to the filmmakers’ work. In addition to competing films, the festival will also screen theatrical premieres of works made for cable television and elsewhere.

ART

Getty Promotions: Two longtime leaders of the J. Paul Getty Museum have been promoted. John Walsh--who will retain his title as director of the museum--has been appointed vice president of the Getty Trust, which governs the museum, a grant program and institutes devoted to art research, education, conservation and technology. Deborah Gribbon--who will continue to serve as the museum’s chief curator--has been named the museum’s deputy director, making her the senior staff member in charge of daily administration.

POP/ROCK

Helping Burned Churches: A single teaming U2’s Bono, Grammy-winning R&B; singer R. Kelly (“I Believe I Can Fly”) and gospel star Kirk Franklin will be released in late August, with proceeds benefiting efforts to rebuild African American churches torched in a rash of arson fires in the South in recent years. The single, “Lean on Me” (a new composition, not the old Bill Withers hit), will also be featured on Franklin’s upcoming album, “Whatcha Lookin’ 4,” which is due in stores Sept. 22. The album follows “God’s Property,” a Franklin project mixing gospel lyrics with contemporary R&B; and hip-hop sounds that made a surprise Top 10 entry when it was released last year and has sold an estimated 1.6 million copies.

Tucker Sues Label: Country singer Tanya Tucker has filed a $300,000 lawsuit against her longtime record company, Capitol, claiming it neglected her latest album. “Complicated,” released in 1997, has sold 147,000 copies, better than her 1995 album “Fire to Fire” (104,000 copies) but worse than her two 1993 albums, “Soon” (479,000) and a greatest hits package (603,000). A Capitol Records spokeswoman declined to comment on the suit.

QUICK TAKES

Comedian Robin Williams is producing the West Coast debut of acclaimed British stand-up comic Eddie Izzard, Sept. 10-27 at the Tiffany Theater in West Hollywood. Izzard’s one-man show, “Dressed to Kill,” just completed a three-month run at New York’s off-Broadway Westbeth Theater, and he has roles in two upcoming films: “The Avengers” and “Velvet Goldmine.” An HBO special is planned for 1999. . . . Smashing Pumpkins will give a free hourlong outdoor concert Thursday in New York following their guest appearance on CBS’ “Late Show With David Letterman.” The group will perform the song “Perfect” on the show from a stage outside the Ed Sullivan Theater, where Letterman’s show is taped. The 6:30 p.m. free concert will follow the show’s taping. . . . Legendary bluesman John Lee Hooker, 80, escaped uninjured, along with eight of his guitars, when flames ripped through his $1.5-million mansion in Los Altos on Sunday night. Damage to the home was estimated at about $400,000. The fire’s cause was still under investigation Tuesday. . . . As expected, the WB network will spin off “Angel,” a new series starring “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” regular David Boreanaz, with a fall 1999 premiere scheduled. . . . Theatre LA’s Times Tix half-price ticket booth is moving from the Beverly Center to nearby Jerry’s Deli at 8701 Beverly Blvd., West Hollywood, in the first step of a planned expansion of the service into several Jerry’s Deli branches. The last day for the Beverly Center location is Sunday; sales at the restaurant will begin Aug. 6.