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

MOVIES

Scorsese to Deliver ‘Gangs’ for Christmas

Martin Scorsese’s long-awaited “Gangs of New York” is now set to premiere on Christmas week--a year after its original release date.

According to Miramax Films, the epic about gang warfare in pre-Civil War Manhattan has been trimmed from more than three hours to less than two hours, 40 minutes--a refutation of a claim, made in a story in Sunday’s New York Times, that the studio and director are engaged in a battle over the running time and Scorsese’s desire to shoot a new ending.

The newspaper said that Scorsese screened a three-hour, 40-minute version for Miramax executives last October. But according to Lois Smith, publicity representative for Scorsese, that was only an assemblage of footage, not a finished product.

“Marty has cut it down since that time, and there’s nothing in that version he misses now,” she told The Times Monday. “After the fine-point editing, it may be even shorter than that. Though Marty may shoot a new ending or add inserts, Miramax is going along with his program. There was a sensational screening of ‘Gangs’ in New York Friday night and [Miramax co-Chairman] Harvey [Weinstein] loved the film. Whatever differences they’ve had between them have been resolved. “

*

TELEVISION

Creative Clashes Put ‘Fat Albert’ on Hold

“Fat Albert,” a live-action version of Bill Cosby’s cartoon series, has been put on hold due to “creative differences” between Cosby and the director, Forest Whitaker, who has exited the 20th Century Fox film.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Cosby, who wrote the script for the movie with Charles Kipps and is executive producing with his wife, Camille, took issue with Whitaker’s view of the characters. Though Cosby had a story credit on “Leonard Part 6,” this is his first outing as a feature-film screenwriter.

Cosby had reportedly hoped to translate the characters from an animated world to a contemporary urban setting, where they’d raise trouble a la “The Little Rascals.” Whitaker has been quoted as saying that the project is about “loving yourself and ... self-esteem.” Fox had hoped that the film would be what is known in industry jargon as a “tentpole”--a moneymaker around which the rest of its schedule could be built. Originally scheduled for a summer 2003 premiere, it had been pushed back to Christmas. With no director now in place, even that date is uncertain.

*

Rio Officials Threaten Suit Over ‘Simpsons’

Tourism officials in Rio de Janeiro say they plan to sue the producers of “The Simpsons” for what they decry as an unfair portrayal of their Brazilian city in a March 31 episode called “Blame It on Lisa.”

In that show, the family traveled to Rio to find a missing orphan whom Lisa Simpson sponsors from abroad. Her father, Homer, was kidnapped by a taxi driver, the family was assaulted by children and they visited Rio slums infested by violent monkeys.

According to a report in the daily O Globo, Brazilian critics denounced the use of cliches and stereotypes and said the show mistakenly linked Brazil to broader Latin American themes, such as having Brazilian characters dance the conga and speak with Spanish accents (most Brazilians speak Portuguese).

*

‘Today’ Starting Its Own Book Club

NBC is attempting to fill the void left by Oprah Winfrey’s decision to scale back her popular book selection segment.

Beginning in June, the “Today” show will launch its own monthly book club. The show will have a best-selling author introduce a book written by an undiscovered writer for the club to read. The following month, “Today” will invite members of book clubs across America to come on the show to get to know the selected book’s author.

“This is a natural fit for us,” said executive producer Jonathan Wald. “This program has always had a huge commitment ot the literary community and a series like this allows us to take that commitment to the next level.”

*

QUICK TAKES

Valerie Harper, Tony Roberts, and Michelle Lee have been cast in this summer’s Ahmanson Theater production of “The Allergist’s Wife”.... Photographs of celebrities who have appeared at the Hollywood Bowl will be displayed in the Hollywood Bowl Museum beginning May 4. Judy Garland, Audrey Hepburn, Bette Davis, Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye, among others, are shown in their dressing rooms or rehearsing on stage.... U.S. Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft, whose rendition of his self-penned song “Let the Eagles Soar” has been lampooned by David Letterman, will appear on Letterman’s CBS late-night show at 11:35 tonight.... PBS’ “Frontline” documentary series is expanding. The first of four episodes of “Frontline/World” will premiere May 23. Produced by WGBH Boston and KQED San Francisco, the show will tackle global trends and world events.... Fox has renewed its late-night sketch comedy series “MADtv” through 2003-04, bringing the show into its ninth year.... Alan Sylvestri (“Forrest Gump,” theme from “Starsky and Hutch”) will receive the lifetime achievement award from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers on April 30 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.... Los Angeles artist Liz Larner--whose critically acclaimed survey of sculpture at the Museum of Contemporary Art closed Sunday--is this year’s winner of the Smithsonian Institution’s Lucelia Artist Award, launched last year to recognize an American artist under the age of 50 whose work demonstrates exceptional creativity.... The bungled 1963 kidnapping of Frank Sinatra Jr. is the subject of a movie for Showtime, “Stealing Sinatra,” starring David Arquette and William H. Macy. No air date has been set.