ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT REPORTS FROM THE TIMES, NEWS SERVICES AND THE NATION’S PRESS.

MOVIES

Box-Office KO: The martial arts film “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” which won Golden Globes for best foreign film and for director Ang Lee, is poised to set a new domestic box-office record for foreign-language films. The Mandarin-language film was No. 5 at the box office last weekend, pushing its total grosses to $53 million. This weekend’s receipts should send it ahead of the current record holder, Roberto Benigni’s 1998 Oscar winner, “Life Is Beautiful,” which took in $57.6 million. Meanwhile, the film’s fortunes should continue to rise: It’s expected to garner multiple Oscar nominations next week, and if so, Sony Pictures Classics has said it will expand “Crouching Tiger” to an additional 400 theaters, which should mean an even greater box-office haul.

POP/ROCK

Boss on TV: HBO has landed Bruce Springsteen’s first televised concert. The pay-cable network will premiere “Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band” on April 7. The special was shot at New York’s Madison Square Garden last summer during the final two shows of the band’s 1999-2000 world tour. However, TV fans won’t be treated to one of Springsteen’s three-hour marathons--HBO said it will eliminate some songs and expects the concert will be edited down to about an hour and 40 minutes.

TELEVISION

‘Survivor’s’ Stacey Sues: A contestant from the first round of “Survivor” has sued CBS and series creator-producer Mark Burnett, claiming that Burnett rigged her rejection from the reality show. In a fraud and breach-of-contract suit filed Monday in San Francisco, practicing attorney Stacey Stillman, the third contestant voted off the island, claimed that Burnett convinced two fellow contestants to vote her off to protect Rudy Boesch, 72, who wound up as one of the game’s four survivors. Stillman alleges that Burnett wanted to keep Boesch so that the show would appeal to an older demographic, and coerced contestants Dirk Been and Sean Kenniff to vote off Stillman. In a statement, CBS said the network “heard about Stacey Stillman’s allegations several months ago. They had no merit then. They have no merit now that she has packaged them into a frivolous and groundless lawsuit.” Burnett, the network said, had no comment. Kenniff, meanwhile, said he didn’t feel he was coerced; Been’s spokesman declined comment.

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DGA Series Nods: Three episodes of HBO’s “The Sopranos” and two editions of NBC’s “The West Wing” constituted the nominations announced by the Directors Guild of America Tuesday for outstanding directorial achievement in a drama series. Previous DGA winners Paris Barclay and Thomas Schlamme were tapped for “The West Wing,” while the “Sopranos” nominees were Henry J. Bronchtein, John Patterson and Allen Coulter, the latter of whom was also nominated Tuesday in the comedy category for an episode of HBO’s “Sex and the City.” The rest of the comedy series nominees: James Burrows for NBC’s “Will & Grace,” Bill D’Elio for Fox’s “Ally McBeal,” Pamela Fryman for NBC’s “Frasier” and Todd Holland for Fox’s “Malcolm in the Middle.”

CLASSICAL MUSIC

Investing in the Future: Well-known American violinist Robert McDuffie, who appeared locally with the L.A. Philharmonic in December, has turned to a group of 16 investors to fund his new instrument. The investors bought shares--costing $100,000 each--toward a $3.5-million, rare violin--a 1735 Guarneri del Gesu. McDuffie, who located and “fell in love” with the violin five years ago, will get to play the instrument but must pay for its insurance and maintenance, which he told the New York Times should cost about $15,000 to $20,000 per year. At the end of a 23-year lease, however, McDuffie, 42, will have to return the instrument to the investors, who intend to sell it at a profit.

QUICK TAKES

A New York court has approved a financial support agreement for Mick Jagger’s 21-month-old son with Brazilian model Luciana Morad. The terms were not revealed, but the heft of the settlement was hinted at when Morad’s lawyer told the court: “With these kinds of numbers, the child may be in danger.” Last summer, Jagger, 57, admitted paternity, but balked at paying $35,000 a month in support. . . . Jennifer Lopez will both host and be the musical guest on this weekend’s “Saturday Night Live.” . . . Academy Award winner Richard Dreyfuss, who played a music teacher in “Mr. Holland’s Opus,” will star as a history professor at a women’s college in the CBS series “The Education of Max Bickford.” The drama is to premiere next fall. . . . As part of a ratings sweeps stunt, ABC’s “Good Morning America” televised a mini baby boom on Tuesday, airing the live births of four babies within 18 minutes on the day’s broadcast. “GMA” had stationed cameras at three hospitals hoping to catch at least one birth. . . . Speaking of babies, singer Marc Anthony’s wife, Dayanara, gave birth to a son, Cristian Anthony Muniz (Anthony’s real last name), Monday in New York. . . . Former “NewsRadio” regular Joe Rogan will host “Fear Factor,” a forthcoming NBC reality series in which competitors must “face their most primal fears” by performing Hollywood stunts such as free-falling from a 12-story building. . . . L.A.’s House of Blues has changed the date for its Fab Four tribute to the late “Breakfast With the Beatles” radio host Deirdre O’Donoghue to Feb. 13.