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

MOVIES

Gibson’s New Project: Christ ... in Aramaic

For the first time since he took the reins of the Oscar-winning “Braveheart” (1995), Mel Gibson is returning to the director’s chair.

His new focus: “The Passion,” a chronicle of the final 12 hours of the life of Jesus Christ, starring James Caviezel. Gibson will confine himself to off-camera duties in the movie, which will deal with Christ’s humanity as well as his divine aspects, and feature a primarily Italian cast.

Adding to the challenge: The minimal dialogue will be spoken in Latin and Aramaic, the language spoken in Palestine at that time. And no subtitles are planned.

Producers Gibson, Bruce Davey and Steve McEveety have yet to line up a distributor--not even Fox, the studio where their Icon Productions is based.

“Obviously, nobody wants to touch something filmed in two dead languages,” Gibson said at a news conference Friday in Rome, where the movie is in pre-production for a planned Nov. 4 shoot. “They think I’m crazy and maybe I am. But maybe I’m a genius.... Hopefully, I’ll be able to transcend language barriers with visual storytelling. If I fail, I’ll put subtitles on it, though I don’t want to.”

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American Lung Assn. Targets Smoking Shows

Fox’s “Futurama” and “The Bernie Mac Show” have wheezed their way to Phlemmy Awards, the annual dishonors bestowed by the American Lung Assn. for TV shows that portray smokers.

“Bernie Mac” was cited because its main character is partial to cigars, while the animated “Futurama” “gave lead roles to Marlboro and Camel cigarettes,” according to the Sacramento chapter of the organization.

“Friends” and “24” won Pink Lung honors because their characters don’t smoke, even though some “Friends” actors do in real life, the group said.

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PEOPLE

Nolte Seeks Treatment for Substance Abuse

Nick Nolte, arrested earlier this month for suspicion of driving under the influence, has checked into a Connecticut substance abuse and psychiatric center where celebrities such as Billy Joel and Diana Ross have recently sought treatment. He entered the facility on Sept. 14, three days after the arrest in Malibu.

“Nick Nolte voluntarily entered Silver Hill Hospital to receive advice and counsel that he feels he needs at this time,” his publicist, Paul Bloch, said Monday. “He will be there as long as he feels is necessary.”

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Irvine Theater to House Trevor’s Oscar, Emmy

The Oscar statuette that Claire Trevor won for her 1948 supporting role in “Key Largo” as gangster Edward G. Robinson’s alcoholic moll will take up permanent residence in the open-air lobby of the newly renovated theater at UC Irvine that is named for the actress, who died two years ago at age 90.

Trevor’s 1956 Emmy, for a live TV performance in “Dodsworth,” also will be encased outside the Claire Trevor Theatre at its reopening gala on Nov. 16.

UCI’s school of the arts is named for Trevor, whose stepson, Donald Bren, is the mega-developer chairman of the Irvine Co. The actress contributed $500,000 in 1999 to renovate the 1970-vintage theater, improving its sight lines and providing new, high-tech staging accouterments.

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Ex-Lennon Assistant on Trial in New York

John Lennon’s former personal assistant exploited the ex-Beatle and his wife, Yoko Ono, by stealing priceless family photos and mementos, then selling them to collectors, a lawyer charged in court Monday.

A lawsuit against the assistant, Frederic Seaman, “is about how John and Yoko put their trust in Mr. Seaman’s hands, and how he betrayed that trust,” Ono’s attorney, Paul LiCalsi, said in opening statements as a civil trial got underway in New York.

Ono, 69, sued Seaman in 1999, demanding that he surrender the rights to 374 photos he took of Lennon, and turn over about $75,000 in profits from the sale of the rock legend’s manuscripts and letters.

LiCalsi told jurors that Ono dismissed Seaman in 1981, unaware that he had been looting Lennon’s files. In 1983, Seaman pleaded guilty to second-degree larceny for stealing Lennon’s diaries; he was sentenced to five years’ probation and ordered to return all the property.

“When he claimed he’d give everything back, he lied,” the lawyer said.

Seaman’s lawyer, Glenn Wolther, has said his client denies any wrongdoing.

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QUICK TAKES

Cary Grant’s image will adorn a U.S. postage stamp, part of the Legends of Hollywood series, to be issued by the Postal Service on Oct. 15.... A sequel to the Oscar-winning “Gladiator,” picking up 15 years after the first installment ended, is being written by one of the original screenwriters, John Logan.... Nicoletta Mantovani, 32, who has been living with 66-year-old Luciano Pavarotti since 1996, is four months pregnant with twins, a spokesman for the tenor said. Pavarotti has three children from a previous marriage. No word on whether the couple will wed.... A week after the 22-member Cuban contingent failed to show at the Latin Grammy Awards for lack of visas, UCLA’s Royce Hall has announced that Cuban singer-songwriter Pablo Milanes--known for songs supportive of the Cuban revolution and critical of U.S. policy--has decided to cancel his Nov. 21 performance because of uncertainty over the issuing of a visa. Refunds: (310) 825-2101.