Quick Takes: Scott Pelley, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Creem, Jackie Collins, R. Kelly

Evening news’ big break

Viewership is up at “CBS Evening News” since Scott Pelley took over as anchor in early June. Then again, the same can be said for his rivals.

Pelley’s third-place newscast reached an average of 5.55 million viewers during his first five weeks in the anchor chair, an increase of 7% over the same five weeks in 2010 when Katie Couric was the anchor, the Nielsen Co. said.

During the same time, Brian Williams’ “Nightly News” on NBC averaged 7.88 million people each night, and ABC’s “World News” with Diane Sawyer had 7.12 million, Nielsen said. In both cases, that’s a 5% increase over last year.

The network evening news — a format that has seen multiple death sentences over the years — has picked up more than a million viewers collectively since last year.

—associated press

Schwarzenegger in ‘Last Stand’

There had been rumors for several weeks that Arnold Schwarzenegger was dipping his toe back in the acting pool, after pulling it out when the scandal over his out-of-wedlock son broke in May.

The director Schwarzenegger was said to be meeting was Kim Ji-Woon, helmer of the western “The Last Stand,” to which the former California governor had been attached before the scandal hit.

Now his representative has confirmed that a deal was completed just a few days ago and that Schwarzenegger will indeed make his return to acting with Kim’s film for Lionsgate.

It will be Schwarzenegger’s first significant role as an actor since he starred with Nick Stahl in “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines” in 2003.

The South Korean director of well-regarded foreign-language films such as the revenge thriller “I Saw the Devil” is making his English-language debut with “The Last Stand.”

The movie, which aims

to shoot this year, tells of

a standoff between the leader of a drug cartel

and an aging border-town sheriff (Schwarzenegger) who must decide how much he wants to risk his life to protect his town from the criminal.

—Steven Zeitchik

Creem ready to restart presses

An iconic, sardonic rock ‘n’ roll magazine with Detroit roots that ceased regular print publication more than 20 years ago is planning a comeback.

The publishing team behind Creem said it’s restarting the presses in mid-to-late September for the magazine that officially shut down operations in 1988 and has been online only since 2001.

It envisions the quarterly publication as part of a broader music network that includes mobile apps and streaming music videos — all with the aim of attracting old and new readers.

—associated press

Jackie Collins to steam up stage

In the novels of Jackie Collins, ambition, greed and sex are tools of the trade for any aspiring starlet. Collins’ steamy page turners — including “Chances,” “Hollywood Wives” and the recent “Poor Little Bitch Girl” — revel in the sordid details and lusty amorality of the glamour set. Now the novelist is working to bring her patented brand of sultry entertainment to the stage.

For the last few years, Collins quietly has been writing a play titled “Hollywood Lies” — a comic murder-mystery involving a young pop star out of rehab and her mother, who has taken conservatorship over her affairs.

In a phone interview, Collins described her new play as fun, glamorous and lighthearted, “great for these times of depression.” She emphasized that her goal isn’t Broadway but rather a traveling stage production that would tour the country and feature former TV stars in the lead roles.

“Hollywood Lies” will have a reading in New York this week, an opportunity for investors to see the play. It had a reading a year ago in L.A., with actors Alfred Molina and Brenda Strong.

—David Ng

R. Kelly might lose his house

Grammy-winning singer R. Kelly faces a $2.9-million foreclosure on his suburban Chicago mansion.

Crain’s Chicago Business reported Tuesday that JPMorgan Chase Bank filed the foreclosure lawsuit last month in Cook County Circuit Court. The complaint states that Kelly hasn’t made monthly mortgage payments since June of last year.

Crain’s said that the Olympia Field home’s appraised value fell 26% in a year, to $3.8 million in 2010. The original 1999 loan was for $3.5 million.

The R&B singer’s spokesman, Allan Mayer, declined to comment about the foreclosure but said that Kelly isn’t in financial trouble.

—associated press

Finally

Broadway bound: The Daphne du Maurier novel “Rebecca” that became a classic film by Alfred Hitchcock is coming to Broadway as a musical.