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

FILM

‘MIB II’ Sizzles at Weekend Box Office

As expected, “Men in Black II” is dominating the Fourth of July holiday weekend.

Unofficial estimates peg the first two days of release in 3,557 theaters at about $36 million, far ahead of its two nearest rivals, Adam Sandler’s “Mr. Deeds” (about $7.6 million for Wednesday and Thursday) and the kids’ comedy “Like Mike” (with approximately $7.1 million in its first two days).

Predictions for the five-day “MIB II” totals are somewhere in the range of $85 million to $95 million, higher than the 1997 original, which grossed $84.1 million over a similar five-day span, though ticket prices were lower then.

TELEVISION

Contestants Set for Latest ‘Big Brother’

The third edition of CBS’ “Big Brother” kicks off Wednesday, with 12 people sequestered in a house and the eventual survivor claiming a $500,000 prize. CBS revealed the contestants Friday. They include six people in their 20s, five in their 30s and a 51-year-old teacher from Shadow Hills, Calif.

The program, which will play three times a week through the summer--Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays--has fared reasonably well for CBS ratings-wise, especially among younger viewers, but also has generated more than its share of controversy.

That includes last summer’s version, in which a contestant was evicted after holding a knife to another’s throat. Reports surfaced this week, in fact, that the woman involved in that incident, Krista Stegall, has sued CBS, contending that her fellow contestant, Justin Sebik, should never have been “cast” on the show because of his history of assault charges--a detail CBS apparently missed in its background checks.

POP/ROCK

Albert Hall Fire Halts Tony Bennett Concert

In the same week that a soprano’s train caught fire during a production of “The Queen of Spades” at Covent Garden, a fire broke out Thursday at nearby Royal Albert Hall, forcing Tony Bennett to stop his concert and the sellout crowd to evacuate the building. No injuries were reported.

The 75-year-old singer was halfway through his signature tune, “I Left My Heart in San Francisco,” when smoke began to fill the auditorium. As the evacuation began, Bennett tried to calm the crowd, joking, “I knew I was hot, but not that hot.”

A spokesman for the hall later said the smoke had come from a burned-out motor.

Hendrix Family Wins Injunction Against PPX

The family of guitarist Jimi Hendrix won an injunction at the London High Court on Friday barring a New York-based music production company from releasing recordings on which the star performed.

Experience Hendrix, the family firm that controls the rights to all of Hendrix’s work except some early recordings, sued PPX Enterprises over recordings that the then little-known guitar virtuoso made with a group called Curtis Knight and the Squires in PPX’s New York studios. Experience Hendrix said PPX failed to pay royalties on the works and had authorized the release of records without licenses. Justice Roger Buckley granted an injunction restraining the future release or licensing of PPX recordings on which Hendrix performed, apart from 33 master tapes that Experience Hendrix agreed PPX was entitled to. Buckley ruled that PPX must account for royalties due on those 33 tapes in the future, but not in the past.

Weezer and Muppets Collaborate on Video

Proving themselves unafraid to share the stage with a ham, the L.A. band Weezer recently wrapped production on a music video, “Keep Fishin’ ” with Miss Piggy and other Muppets.

The video features the band members as guests on the former television series “The Muppet Show,” with guest appearances by Miss Piggy, Kermit the Frog, Gonzo and others.

In a statement, Kermit said, “Weezer fit right in. They’re rock stars; they’re used to being around animals, bears and egotistical pigs.”

The video is set for release July 14 on MTV and MTV2.

QUICK TAKES

Charlayne Woodard’s one-woman show, “In Real Life,” which appeared at the Mark Taper Forum last year, will be staged by Manhattan Theatre Club this fall, opening there Oct. 8.... Bruce Willis will appear on Showtime Aug. 12 in a production of Sam Shepard’s “True West,” taped at the Liberty Theatre in Hailey, Idaho.... David Bowie said Friday he would never again live in his native Britain. “The pure inconvenience of having a camera lens stuck in either my face or my wife and child’s face every morning, I think would certainly be a deterrent to me wanting to come back to live here on a permanent basis,” he told the BBC. Bowie has lived in the United States for the past decade.... Singer Marc Anthony and his wife, former Miss Universe Dayanara Torres, have separated. Anthony, 33, and Torres, 26, were married in 2000 and have a 16-month-old son.