DATE=3/26/2002

TYPE=ENGLISH PROGRAMS FEATURE

NUMBER=7-36101

TITLE=HOLLYWOOD HIGHLIGHTS 2002-13a (Top 5 Films)

BYLINE=ALAN SILVERMAN

TELEPHONE=619-1024 (editor)

DATELINE=HOLLYWOOD

EDITOR=vicki swaney

CONTENT=

( INSERTS AVAILABLE FROM AUDIO SERVICES; VOICED VERSION 3:46vo )

Intro: While Hollywood celebrated last year's best films and performances at the Oscars, a vampire sequel drew new blood at theater box offices and audiences cheered the return of a 20-year-old extraterrestrial. Alan Silverman has this week's rundown of the top five most popular films now showing in North America:

CUT ONE "RESIDENT EVIL" CLIP

"WHAT HAPPENED HERE?"

"FIVE HOURS AGO THE RED QUEEN WHEN HOMICIDAL, SEALED THE HIVE AND KILLED EVERYONE DOWN HERE. WHEN WE REALIZED WHAT WAS HAPPENING MY TEAM WAS DISPATCHED TO SHUT HER DOWN."

"WHY DID SHE DO IT?"

"THAT WE DON'T KNOW."

TEXT: "RESIDENT EVIL" stars Milla Jovovich in a live-action adaptation of the popular, ultra-violent video game. "RESIDENT EVIL" resides on fifth place.

Eddie Murphy and Robert DeNiro team up for the comedy "SHOWTIME;" they play police officers in the satire of "reality" television shows:

CUT TWO "SHOWTIME" CLIP

"WHEN I'M ABOUT TO MAKE A BUST (ARREST), WHAT I DO TO GET MYSELF PSYCHED . . . TO GET IN THE MOMENT . . . IS TO TAKE THREE DEEP BREATHS AND I SAY TO MYSELF 'OKAY, IT'S SHOWTIME!'"

"YOU SAY THAT?"

"THAT'S THE STUPIDEST THING I EVER HEARD."

TEXT: /// OPT /// Murphy says his costar, along with being one of the screen's most respected dramatic actors, is also pretty good at comedy:

CUT THREE MURPHY

I DON'T REALLY MAKE THAT GREAT A DISTINCTION BETWEEN DRAMATIC ACTORS AND COMEDIANS. TO ME, ACTING IS ACTING AND JUST THE SIMPLE FACT THAT HE'S ROBERT DENIRO, I WAS CHARGED UP FOR TO WORK WITH HIM. I WAS THINKING MORE 'ACTOR TO ACTOR' THAN COMEDIAN TO DRAMATIC ACTOR. /// END OPT ///

TEXT: "SHOWTIME" ends up at number four.

A diminutive hero that first landed 20 years ago returns for an encore:

CUT FOUR "E.T." CLIP

"E.T., CAN YOU SAY 'E.T.? CAN YOU SAY THAT?"

"E.T."

"HAH!"

TEXT: "E.T., THE EXTRATERRESTRIAL," the gentle fantasy of kids who encounter a lovable outer space alien, first came out in 1982; it's back with a handful of minor improvements by director Steven Spielberg who calls it his "most personal film:"

/// OPT /// CUT FIVE SPIELBERG

'E.T.' IS ALSO THE MOVIE I GET QUESTIONED ABOUT FROM YOUNG KIDS WHO ALWAYS ASK 'WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO MAKE A SEQUEL TO 'E.T.'?' I ALWAYS SAY I'M N-O-T GOING TO. IT'S A LITTLE GEM THE WAY IT WAS AND ANY FUTURE ITERATION OF 'E.T.' WOULD ONLY DISTILL THE MEMORY OF THE FIRST ONE AND MAKE IT N-O-T AS MEMORABLE. SO I'VE NEVER WANTED TO RE-MAKE 'E.T.,' BUT I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE GREAT TO RE-ISSUE IT AND WHAT BETTER OCCASION THAN THE TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY TO BRING IT BACK OUT AGAIN. /// END OPT ///

TEXT: The "E.T." re-issue opens up at number three.

Another family film slips to second place:

CUT SIX "ICE AGE" CLIP

"AH, I COULD KISS YOU. (KISS) UGH. YUCK."

"YOU'RE AN EMBARRASSMENT TO NATURE, YOU KNOW THAT."

TEXT: The computer-animated adventure "ICE AGE" follows a trio of unlikely buddies - a mammoth, a sloth and a saber-tooth tiger - on a prehistoric quest. "ICE AGE" debuted in the top spot last week, but is just barely edged out by the action-horror sequel "BLADE-TWO:"

CUT SEVEN "BLADE TWO" CLIP

"YOU DO N-O-T KNOW WHO YOU ARE MESSING WITH." (MUSIC)

TEXT: Wesley Snipes returns as the half-vampire/half-human title character: a vampire hunter who teams up with his prey to stop an even more sinister enemy. /// OPT /// Snipes says his goal with "BLADE" is to make sure the action doesn't overpower the character:

CUT EIGHT SNIPES

YES, BECAUSE I THINK MANY ACTION FILMS PUT THE CART BEFORE THE HORSE. THEY DON'T RELY ENOUGH ON GOOD ACTORS OR GOOD STORIES AS THE FOUNDATION TO LAUNCH ALL OF THE SPECTACLE. I THINK THEY SAY 'LET'S BLOW SOME STUFF UP. OKAY, NOW WE NEED AN ACTOR. RUN ACROSS THERE. YOU'RE N-O-T THE STAR. THE EXPLOSION IS THE STAR.' THAT'S N-O-T GOING TO BE IN MY MOVIES. I'M N-O-T GOING TO DO THAT. /// END OPT ///

TEXT: Also featuring Chilean-born Leonor Varela and directed by Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, "BLADE TWO" opens up as number one: the new most popular movie at North American theaters. (signed)