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

TELEVISION

CBS Planning Movie About JFK Jr.

CBS confirmed Monday that it is developing a TV movie about John F. Kennedy Jr., based on the new biography “American Son.” It will probably air next season, a spokeswoman said.

An unknown actor will play the late son of the late U.S. president to avoid the distraction of having a celebrity portray a real-life celebrity, said Ed Gernon, executive vice president of movies and miniseries for Alliance Atlantis, which owns the book rights with True Entertainment.

The next step is to hire a writer to adapt the book by Richard Blow, an editor at Kennedy’s defunct George magazine. Kennedy was 38 when he and his wife, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, and her sister, Lauren Bessette, died in a 1999 plane crash near Martha’s Vineyard.

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Yet Another Version of ‘Spider-Man’

After last week’s announcement that a stage version of “Spider-Man” may be coming to a theater near you, MTV jumped on the Marvel Comics juggernaut Monday by announcing it has a new cartoon series about the webbed one in the works.

The latest animated installment of “Spider-Man” will feature the voices of Neil Patrick Harris (the former star of TV’s “Doogie Howser, M.D.”), singer Lisa Loeb (“Cake and Pie”) and Ian Ziering (“Beverly Hills 90210”). Produced by Columbia TriStar Domestic Television Family Entertainment, it is slated to premiere next winter.

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MOVIES

Several New Projects Are in the Works

Twentieth Century Fox has bought the rights to “The Day After Tomorrow,” a big-budget movie about the disastrous effects of global warming. Roland Emmerich will direct.... Anand Tucker (“Hilary and Jackie”) will direct Steve Martin in the big-screen adaptation of Martin’s best-selling novella “Shopgirl,” the story of an aspiring artist who works at Neiman Marcus........Jennifer Lopez will star in and produce an updated version of the classic opera “Carmen,” according to Variety....Tim Burton has signed to direct “Big Fish,” the story of a dying father and his son, for Columbia Pictures.

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THEATER

Drabinsky Bound for Broadway--in Absentia

Producer Garth Drabinsky (“Ragtime,” “Show Boat”) has been unable to set foot in the United States since the Canadian impresario was charged with criminal fraud of as much as $100 million. But he’s planning on reviving “The Dresser”--the 1980 London backstage drama--on Broadway, the New York Times reports.

“My intention is not to wither and die but to keep working,” he said, reiterating his innocence.

Though it would obviously be better for him to be on site, he said, Drabinsky doesn’t expect to travel with the production. He has already recruited a director--”Morning’s at Seven’s” Daniel Sullivan--and a set designer, Santo Loquasto (“The Elephant Man,” “Fosse”). The cast has not yet been selected. The show is expected to arrive in New York next spring after a run at the Elgin Theater in Toronto.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan indicted Drabinsky and a partner, Myron I. Gottlieb, in 1999 on six counts of fraud and conspiracy. The duo--and other employees--were accused of taking kickbacks from contractors working on his theaters and hiding losses of more than $60,000.

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DANCE

Graham Troupe to Stage 1-Night Reunion

“Indisputably Martha Graham,” a one-night performance scheduled to take place at New York’s City Center on Thursday, marks the first time the Martha Graham troupe has returned to the stage since it suspended operations in May 2000.

And the title of the evening, whether intentional or not, has more than a touch of irony, because the company has been embroiled in a heated legal dispute over the legacy of the legendary choreographer. At stake is the ownership of Graham’s pioneering work.

Ronald Protas, a former photographer who became close to Graham in her later years, claims that he has the rights to the dances--and the right to license them for performance through the Graham Trust, which he, as Graham’s heir, heads. In January 2001, he sued the center, saying that he owned the trademark to Graham’s name and pioneering dance technique. The Graham Center of Contemporary Dance--which operates the Graham dance company and school--says that, while Graham did give everything to Protas, her will is “very nonspecific.” The rights to much of her work, they insist, have been transferred to the center.

Protas counters that other documents exist, substantiating his claim.

Why are the dancers performing before the dispute has been resolved by the courts? “We’re not trying to poke a fire in our opponent’s eye,” said Marvin Preston, executive director of the Graham Center. “The main reason is to keep the dancers dancing. They need to keep dancing in order to remember the dances--to keep muscle memory alive.”

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QUICK TAKES

Averaging 20.4 million viewers, NBC’s 75th anniversary show helped the network win the Sunday night ratings race. It was the biggest Sunday audience since the Olympics....The WB network has picked up 13 episodes of “Everwood,” a series about a brain surgeon (Treat Williams) who relocates to a small Colorado town after the death of his wife....The X-Ecutioners and Coup show at the Glass House in Pomona tonight has been canceled. It has not been rescheduled.

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Elaine Dutka